Pollination is the biological process by which pollen grains are transferred from the anthers of a flower (or male reproductive structures) to the stigma of a flower (or female receptive structures), enabling fertilization and subsequent seed and fruit development in seed plants. As a reproductive phenomenon, it can occur via abiotic vectors such as wind and water or via biotic agents including insects, birds, and bats. Pollination encompasses both self- and cross-pollination events, and its efficiency and specificity critically influence gene flow, plant fitness, reproductive isolation, and the structure and dynamics of plant–pollinator interaction networks in ecosystems.
Nature is filled with remarkable visual phenomena created by microscopic surface structures that interact with light in fascinating ways. The iridescent wings of butterflies, the shimmering feathers of birds and the glossy ...
Optics & Photonics
10 hours ago
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A new study by plant biologists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, challenges a longstanding idea that stems from the large number of flowers in the mountains of Central and South America that have evolved to be ...
Evolution
Jun 4, 2026
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The nocturnal mating rituals of hairy scarab beetles are helping pollinate one of Perth's most common native trees, in a discovery that highlights the unusual adaptations of Australian plants and the unexpected pollination ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 3, 2026
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There is not yet much research on the effects of heat waves on bees. What little there is focuses on super extremes of weather that would kill an adult bee.
Ecology
May 26, 2026
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In many underwater ecosystems, seagrass meadows act as a food source, a safe haven, and an ecological lynchpin. But until now, very little was known about how these plants reproduce—critical information for conserving the ...
Plants & Animals
May 22, 2026
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Long before his days of research, Christian Couch was just a kid marveling at the butterflies in the Florida Museum of Natural History's Butterfly Rainforest. Years later, after enrolling as an undergraduate student at the ...
Plants & Animals
May 21, 2026
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What renders a city garden attractive to insects such as solitary bees, bumblebees and hoverflies? And how well do they pollinate plants in urban areas? A study by the Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape ...
Plants & Animals
May 20, 2026
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Being a single mother of 20 is no joke, especially if the survival of a whole species depends on it. A queen bumblebee faces this very challenge when she lays her first eggs in the spring: She is utterly alone, with no worker ...
Plants & Animals
May 18, 2026
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An international research team led by the IPK Leibniz Institute has succeeded in generating haploids in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana very efficiently. This process involves degrading a specific protein in the centromere. ...
Plants & Animals
May 7, 2026
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New research finds that higher temperatures can actually benefit some bumble bee species—particularly those that make subterranean nests. However, periods of extreme heat appear to offset those benefits, and may contribute ...
Plants & Animals
May 6, 2026
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