Pollination and Floral Ecology is the most comprehensive single-volume reference to all aspects of pollination biology--and the first fully up-to-date resource of its kind to appear in decades. This beautifully illustrated book describes how flowers use colors, shapes, and scents to advertise themselves; how they offer pollen and nectar as rewards; and how they share complex interactions with beetles, birds, bats, bees, and other creatures. The ecology of these interactions is covered in depth, including the timing and patterning of flowering, competition among flowering plants to attract certain visitors and deter others, and the many ways plants and animals can cheat each other. Pollination and Floral Ecology pays special attention to the prevalence of specialization and generalization in animal-flower interactions, and examines how a lack of distinction between casual visitors and true pollinators can produce misleading conclusions about flower evolution and animal-flower mutualism.
This one-of-a-kind reference also gives insights into the vital pollination services that animals provide to crops and native flora, and sets these issues in the context of today's global pollination crisis.
* Provides the most up-to-date resource on pollination and floral ecology
* Describes flower advertising features and rewards, foraging and learning by flower-visiting animals, behaviors of generalist and specialist pollinators--and more
* Examines the ecology and evolution of animal-flower interactions, from the molecular to macroevolutionary scale
* Features hundreds of color and black-and-white illustrations
By:
Patricia Willmer
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 254mm,
Width: 203mm,
Spine: 58mm
Weight: 2.155kg
ISBN: 9780691128610
ISBN 10: 0691128618
Pages: 832
Publication Date: 04 October 2011
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface vii Acknowledgments ix Part I: Essentials of Flower Design and Function Chapter 1 Why Pollination Is Interesting 3 Chapter 2 Floral Design and Function 11 Chapter 3 Pollination, Mating, and Reproduction in Plants 55 Chapter 4 Evolution of Flowers, Pollination, and Plant Diversity 88 Part II Floral Advertisements and Floral Rewards Chapter 5 Advertisements 1: Visual Signals and Floral Color 105 Chapter 6 Advertisements 2: Olfactory Signals 134 Chapter 7 Rewards 1: The Biology of Pollen 154 Chapter 8 Rewards 2: The Biology of Nectar 190 Chapter 9 Other Floral Rewards 221 Chapter 10 Rewards and Costs: The Environmental Economics of Pollination 234 Part III Pollination Syndromes? Chapter 11 Types of Flower Visitors: Syndromes, Constancy, and Effectiveness 261 Chapter 12 Generalist Flowers and Generalist Visitors 288 Chapter 13 Pollination by Flies 304 Chapter 14 Pollination by Butterflies and Moths 322 Chapter 15 Pollination by Birds 337 Chapter 16 Pollination by Bats 356 Chapter 17 Pollination by Nonflying Vertebrates and Other Oddities 370 Chapter 18 Pollination by Bees 378 Chapter 19 Wind and Water: Abiotic Pollination 418 Chapter 20 Syndromes and Webs: Specialists and Generalists 434 Part IV Floral Ecology Chapter 21 The Timing and Patterning of Flowering 483 Chapter 22 Living with Other Flowers: Competition and Pollination Ecology 503 Chapter 23 Cheating by Flowers: Cheating the Visitors and Cheating Other Flowers 524 Chapter 24 Flower Visitors as Cheats and the Plants' Responses 542 Chapter 25 The Interactions of Pollination and Herbivory 554 Chapter 26 Pollination Using Florivores: From Brood Site Mutualism to Active Pollination 565 Chapter 27 Pollination in Different Habitats 575 Chapter 28 The Pollination of Crops 605 Chapter 29 The Global Pollination Crisis 620 Appendix 639 Glossary 643 References 663 Subject Index 751 Index of Animal Genera 768 Index of Plant Genera 771
Pat Willmer is professor of zoology at the University of St. Andrews. She has published extensively on pollination biology in leading scientific journals. Her books include Environmental Physiology of Animals.
Reviews for Pollination and Floral Ecology
"One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2011 ""In this accessibly written reference, Willmer provides a thorough, up-to-date review of floral biology and pollination... This book is comprehensive and well written, combining informative text and many helpful in-text figures and tables with 39 beautiful color plates. Additionally, the book contains a complete reference section and a useful glossary, which increases the utility of this resource for students or practitioners of pollination ecology.""--Choice ""[Pollination and Floral Ecology] is a big book that I unhesitatingly consider a 'must-have' reference for anyone working in this field or thinking about entering it... For now, there is nothing like it.""--James D. Thomson, Quarterly Review of Biology ""[T]he book should largely be used as a reference book, which, again, can be used by those with any level of experience. It is inexpensive relative to the amount of material covered. I commend Willmer for the presumably massive undertaking of the compiling of this vast subject into this relatively small volume. Like other reference books, the material will not become obsolete for many years, and it should be the companion of any pollination ecologist entering the field.""--Plant Science Bulletin"
- Commended for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2011.
- Runner-up for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2011.
- Short-listed for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2011
- Short-listed for CHOICE Magazine's Outstanding Academic Titles 2011 (United States)
- Shortlisted for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2011.
