Pollinators play an essential role in biodiversity. They are also crucial for the biological balance in nature. About 90% of our flowering plant species on Earth depend on pollination. Plants are not only food for wildlife. They also provide homes and shelter for many species. One-third of all the food we humans eat, and nine out of ten wild flowering plants, are pollinated by insects.
Following, plants then provide seeds, fruits and berries to birds, mammals and insects. Without pollinators, the global food supply would be under acute threat, and the species diversity of flowering plants would disappear. So pollinators are essential! But what is pollination again?
For flowering plants to reproduce, pollen must be transferred between flowers of the same species. Pollinators are animals that help transport pollen from a flower’s stamen to a flower’s pistil. Excess pollen sticks to the animal’s body when pollinators visit a flower. In search of more pollen and nectar, pollinators move from flower to flower, helping pollen grains spread to the pistils of other flowers. When pollen grains are attached to a pistil, seed substances inside the pistil will form new seeds by fertilization, which can then grow into new plants.
Sources
ReThink – Small Animals Knowledge
Smithstonian Institution – The Why, What, When, Where, Who, How of Pollination 
April 2022, TÄNKOM | Revised February 2024 RETHINK
