sudhir memorial institute

DOLTALA, MADHYAMGRAM

BIOLOGY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

Topic : Comparative study of commercial
antacids
AISSCE : 2024-25
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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Bidisha Dey of

class XII-science, Sudhir Memorial

Institute, Madhyamgram, has

successfully completed the Biology

investigatory project on the topic -

‘Pollination’ for the partial completion of

AISSCE 2024-25 Biology practical exam.

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INTERNAL SIGNATURE
EXTERNAL SIGNATURE

DELARATION
I, the undersigned , Bidisha Dey, student
of class XII, science, hereby declare that
the project work presented in this report
is my own work and has been carried
out under the supervision of biology
teacher.
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This work has not been

previously submitted to any other
school for my examination.

Student’s signature :
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ACKNOWLEDGEM
ENT
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and
appreciation to all those who helped and supported
me throughout the project.

I am highly indebted to my Biology teacher, Gargi

ma’am for her guidance and constant supervision as
well as for providing the necessary information
regarding the project. I would also like to extend my
gratitude to our Principal for providing me with the
opportunity to work on this project.

I would also like to thank my parents who have

helped me by providing the required materials to
complete this project and also for their continued
support and encouragement in doing this project.

Finally, I would like to thank the CBSE board for

giving me the great opportunity to do this project.
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INDEX
SL NO. TOPIC PAGE NO.
1. INTRODUCTION

2. WHO ARE THE POLLINATORS?

3. TYPES OF POLLINATION

4. METHODS OF POLLINATION

5. IMPORTANCE OF POLLINATION

6. CONCLUSION

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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TOPIC
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INTRODUCTION

Pollination is the act of transferring pollen

grains from the male anther of a flower to
the female stigma. The goal of every living
organism, including plants, is to create
offspring for the next generation. One of the
ways that plants can produce offspring is by
making seeds. Seeds contain the genetic
information to produce a new plant.

Seeds can only be produced when pollen is

transferred between flowers of the
same species. A species is defined a
population of individuals capable of
interbreeding freely with one another but
because of geographic, reproductive, or
other barriers, they do not interbreed with
members of other species.

Flowers must rely on vectors to move

pollen. These vectors can include wind,
water, birds, insects, butterflies, bats, and
other animals that visit flowers. We call
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animals or insects that transfer pollen from

plant to plant “pollinators”.

WHO ARE THE POLLINATORS?

Pollinators play a crucial role in flowering

plant reproduction and in the production of
most fruits and vegetables. Most plants
require the assistance of pollinators to
produce seeds and fruit. About 80% of all
flowering plants and over three-quarters of
the staple crop plants that feed humankind
rely on pollinators.
Pollinators visit flowers in search of food,
mates, shelter and nest-building materials.
The energy that powers pollinator growth,
metamorphosis, flight and reproduction
comes from sugars in nectar, and the
proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals from
pollen grains.
These very some of the very important
pollinators :
 Ants

 Bats

 Bees

 Beetles

 Birds

 Butterflies
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 Flies
 Moths

 Wasps

Bees play a critical role in ecosystem health

and sustainability across the globe. They
pollinate flowers, trees and other plants that
in turn provide food and habitat for other
creatures. Their role in pollinating
agricultural crops is invaluable.
TYPES OF POLLINATION

Pollination can be accomplished by cross-pollination or by self-

pollination:

 Cross-pollination, also called allogamy, occurs

when pollen is delivered from the stamen of
one flower to the stigma of a flower on
another plant of the same species. Plants
adapted for cross-pollination have several
mechanisms to prevent self-pollination; The wasp Mischocyttarus
rotundicollis transporting pollen grains
of Schinus terebinthifolius

 Self-pollination occurs when pollen from one flower pollinates the

same flower or other flowers of the same individual. It is thought to
have evolved under conditions when pollinators were not reliable
vectors for pollen transport, and is most often seen in short-lived
annual species and plants that colonize new locations. Self-
pollination may include autogamy, where pollen is transferred from
anther (male part) to the stigma (female part) of the same flower;
or geitonogamy, when pollen is transferred from anther of a flower
to stigma of another flower on the same plant. Plants adapted to
self-fertilize often have similar stamen and carpel lengths.
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 CHASMOGAMOUS AND CLEISTOGAMOUS FLOWERS :

Cleistogamy is self-pollination that occurs before the flower opens. The

pollen is released from the anther within the flower or the pollen on the
anther grows a tube down the style to the ovules. It is a type of sexual
breeding, in contrast to asexual systems such as apomixis.
Some cleistogamous flowers never open, in contrast
to chasmogamous flowers that open and are then pollinated.
Cleistogamous flowers are by necessity found on self-compatible or
self-fertile plants. Although certain orchids and grasses are entirely
cleistogamous, other plants resort to this strategy under adverse
conditions. Often there may be a mixture of both cleistogamous and
chasmogamous flowers, sometimes on different parts of the plant
and sometimes in mixed inflorescences. The ground bean produces
cleistogamous flowers below ground, and mixed cleistogamous and
chasmogamous flowers above.

OXALIS COMMELINA VIOLA

Fig. Plants that produce both chasmogamous and cleistogamous flowers

Some adaptations for self-pollination include:

 Cleistogamy
 Homogamy: when the anthers and stigma of a flower mature at the
same time.
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 Bisexuality: when a flower has both male and female organs.

 Position of anthers: in some species, the anthers are positioned
around the stigma to ensure self-pollination.

Some adaptations for cross-pollination include:

 Heterostyly : When styles and filaments in a flower are of different

lengths, it is called heterostyly.
 Dichogamy : maturation of anthers and stigma of the same flowers
at different times.
 Male sterility: In some species, the pollen grains are non functional.
 Self incompatibility: The inability of fertile pollens to fertilize the
same flower is referred to as self incompatibility .

METHODS OF POLLINATION

Pollination may be biotic or abiotic. Biotic pollination relies on

living pollinators to move the pollen from one flower to another. Abiotic
pollination relies on wind, water or even rain.

BIOTIC POLLINATION

About 80% of angiosperms rely on biotic pollination (also called pollen

vectors): organisms that carry or move the pollen grains from
the anther of one flower to the receptive part of the carpel or pistil
(stigma) of another. Bees, butterflies, flies, beetles, wasps, ants, moths,
birds (sunbirds and humming birds) and bats are the common pollinating
agents. (Figure 1.11b). Among the animals, insects, particularly bees are
the dominant biotic pollinating agents. Even larger animals such as some
primates (lemurs), arboreal (tree-dwelling) rodents, or even reptiles
(gecko lizard and garden lizard) have also been reported as pollinators in
some species.

 Entomophily or insect pollination is a form

of pollination whereby pollen of plants, especially but not only
of flowering plants, is distributed by insects.
Adaptations of entomophilous flowers :Flowers pollinated by insects
typically advertise themselves with bright colours, sometimes with
conspicuous patterns (honey guides) leading to rewards of pollen
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and nectar, they may also have an attractive scent which in some
cases mimics insect pheromones.

Insect pollinators such as bees have adaptations for their role, such as
lapping or sucking mouthparts to take in nectar, and in some species also
pollen baskets on their hind legs. Insect pollinators such as
honeybees , bumblebees and butterflies (e.g., Thymelicus flavus)have
been observed to engage in flower constancy, which means they are more
likely to transfer pollen to other conspecific plants.

 The flowers pollinated by flies and beetles secrete foul odours to

attract these animals.
 In zoophily, pollination is performed by
vertebrates such
as birds and bats,particularly, hummingbirds
, sunbirds,
spiderhunters, honey eaters, and fruit
bats. Ornithophily or bird pollination is the
pollination of flowering plants by
birds. Chiropterophily or bat pollination is the
pollination of flowering plants by bats. Plants
adapted to use bats or moths as pollinators Fig. Pollinator – humming
bird
typically have white petals, strong scent and
flower at night, whereas plants that use birds
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as pollinators tend to produce copious nectar

and have red petals.

 Mammals are not generally thought

of as pollinators, but some rodents, bats
and marsupials are significant pollinators
and some even specialise in such activities.
In South Africa certain species of Protea are
adapted to pollination by rodents
(particularly Cape Spiny Mouse (Acomys
subspinosus) and elephant
shrews (Elephantulus species).

 Reptile pollinators are known, but they form a

minority in most ecological situations. They
are most frequent and most ecologically
significant in island systems, where insect and
sometimes also bird populations may be
unstable and less species-rich. Most species of
lizards in the families that seem to be
significant in pollination seem to carry pollen
Fig. Pollinator : gecko
only incidentally, especially the larger species
lizard
such as Varanidae and Iguanidae, but
especially several species of
the Gekkonidae are active pollinators, and so
is at least one species of
the Lacertidae, Podarcis lilfordi, which
pollinates various species, but in particular is
the major pollinator of Euphorbia
dendroides on various Mediterranean islands.

ABIOTIC POLLINATION
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Abiotic pollination uses nonliving methods such as wind and water to

move pollen from one flower to another. This allows the plant to spend
energy directly on pollen rather than on attracting pollinators with flowers
and nectar. Pollination by wind is more common amongst abiotic
pollination.

BY WIND :

Some 98% of abiotic pollination is anemophily, i.e.,

pollination by wind. The transfer of pollen is more
efficient than previously thought; wind pollinated
plants have developed to have specific heights, in
addition to specific floral, stamen and stigma
positions that promote effective pollen dispersal
and transfer.

Wind pollination also requires that the pollen

grains are light and non-sticky so that they can be
transported in wind currents. They often possess well-exposed
stamens (so that the pollens are easily dispersed into wind currents)
and large often-feathery stigma to easily trap air-borne pollen
grains. Wind pollinated flowers often have a single ovule in each
ovary and numerous flowers packed into an inflorescence; a familiar
example is the corn cob – the tassels are nothing but the stigma and
style which wave in the wind to trap pollen grains. Wind-pollination is
quite common in grasses.

BY WATER :

Pollination by water, hydrophily, uses water to transport pollen,

sometimes as whole anthers; these can travel across the surface of the
water to carry dry pollen from one flower to another. Pollination by water
is quite rare in flowering plants and is limited to about 30 genera, mostly
monocotyledons. Water is a regular mode of transport for the male
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gametes among the lower plant groups such as algae, bryophytes and
pteridophytes. It is believed, particularly for some bryophytes and
pteridophytes, that their distribution is limited because of the need for
water for the transport of male gametes and fertilisation. Some examples
of water pollinated plants are Vallisneria and Hydrilla which grow in fresh
water and several marine sea-grasses such as Zostera.

 Not all aquatic plants use water for

pollination. In a majority of aquatic plants
such as water hyacinth and water lily,
the flowers emerge above the level of
water and are pollinated by insects or
wind as in most of the land plants.
Water lily pollinated by
insect

 In Vallisneria, the female flower reach the surface of water by the

long stalk and the male flowers or pollen grains are released on to
the surface of water. They are carried passively by water
currents ,some of them eventually reach the female flowers and the
stigma.

Fig. Pollination in vallisneria

 In another group of water pollinated plants such as seagrasses,

female flowers remain submerged in water and the pollen grains are
released inside the water. Pollen grains in many such species are
long, ribbon like and they are carried passively inside the water;
some of them reach the stigma and achieve pollination. In most of
the water-pollinated species, pollen grains are protected from
wetting by a mucilaginous covering.
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BY RAIN :

Rain pollination is used by a small percentage of plants. Heavy rain

discourages insect pollination and damages unprotected flowers, but can
itself disperse pollen of suitably adapted plants, such as Ranunculus
flammula, Narthecium ossifragum, and Caltha palustris.[42] In these plants,
excess rain drains allowing the floating pollen to come in contact with the
stigma.[42] In some orchids ombrophily occurs, and rain water splashes
cause the anther cap to be removed, allowing for the pollen to be
exposed. After exposure, raindrops causes the pollen to be shot upward,
when the stipe pulls them back, and then fall into the cavity of the stigma.
Thus, for the orchid Acampe rigida, this allows the plant to self-pollinate,
which is useful when biotic pollinators in the environment have decreased.

Fig. Acampe rigida pollinated by rain

Fig. Ranunculus flammula splash
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IMPORTANCE OF POLLINATION

Pollination is not just fascinating natural history. It is an essential

ecological survival function. Without pollinators, the human race and all of
earth’s terrestrial ecosystems would not survive. Of the 1,400 crop plants
grown around the world, i.e., those that produce all of our food and plant-
based industrial products, almost 80% require pollination by animals.
Visits from bees and other pollinators also result in larger, more flavorful
fruits and higher crop yields. In the United States alone, pollination of
agricultural crops is valued at 10 billion dollars annually. Globally,
pollination services are likely worth more than 3 trillion dollars.

 More than half of the world’s diet of fats and oils come from animal-
pollinated plants (oil palm, canola, sunflowers, etc.).

 More than 150 food crops in the U.S. depend on pollinators,

including almost all fruit and grain crops.

 The USDA estimated that crops dependent on pollination are worth

more than $10 billion per year.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF POLLINATION :

Clean Air (Carbon Cycling/Sequestration)

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Flowering plants produce breathable oxygen by

utilizing the carbon dioxide produced by plants
and animals as they respire. Levels of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere have been rapidly
increasing in the last century, however, due to
increased burning of fossil fuels and
destruction of vital forests, the “earth’s lungs.”
Pollinators are key to reproduction of wild plants in our fragmented global
landscape. Without them, existing populations of plants would decline,
even if soil, air, nutrients, and other life-sustaining elements were
available.

Water and Soils

Flowering plants help to purify water and prevent erosion through roots
that holds the soil in place, and foliage that buffers the impact of rain as it
falls to the earth. The water cycle depends on plants to return moisture to
the atmosphere, and plants depend on pollinators to help them
reproduce.

CULTURAL IMPORTANCE OF POLLINATION :

Native Peoples traditionally recognized the

importance of pollinators:

 Cultural symbolism

 Food plants

 Medicinal plants

 Plant-based dyes

A hummingbird flits among the

blossoms of a fireweed. This
original design was done in the
style of, and greatly influenced
by, the delicate form, lines, and
art of the Tsimshian and Tlingit
peoples of southeast Alaska.
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CONCLUSION

Virtually all of the world’s seed plants need to be pollinated. This is just as true for cone-
bearing plants, such as pine trees, as for the more colorful and familiar flowering plants.
Pollen, looking like insignificant yellow dust, bears a plant’s male sex cells and is a vital link
in the reproductive cycle.

With adequate pollination, wildflowers:

 Reproduce and produce enough seeds for dispersal and propagation.

 Maintain genetic diversity within a population.

 Develop adequate fruits to entice seed dispersers.

The Simple Truth: We Can’t Live Without Them!

Over the past few decades, there has been a significant loss of pollinators, including honey
bees, native bees, birds, bats, and butterflies, from the environment. The problem is serious
and requires immediate attention to ensure the sustainability of our food production
systems, avoid additional economic impact on the agricultural sector, and protect the health
of the environment.
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Given the breadth, severity, and persistence of pollinator losses, it is critical to expand
Federal efforts and take new steps to reverse pollinator losses and help restore populations
to healthy levels.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WEBSITES :

 https://www.fs.usda.gov/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollination
 https://www.britannica.com/science/pollination

TEXTBOOKS :

 NCERT BIOLOGY XII

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