Pollination: The Enduring Relationship between Plant and Pollinator

Pollination is essential for the survival of most of the Earth's plants. Some rely on the wind to carry pollen from one flower to another. Others employ a range of ingenious strategies to attract and exploit pollinators, whether insects, birds, or mammals. This beautifully illustrated book offers an unprecedented look at the wonders of pollination biology, drawing on the latest scientific advances to explain the extraordinarily complex relationship between plant and pollinator, and revealing why pollination is vital to healthy ecosystems and a healthy planet.

Timothy Walker provides an engaging introduction to the biology of pollination and explores the various reproductive tactics of plants. He shows how wind and water can be effective but tremendously unpredictable means of pollination, and describes the intimate interactions of pollinating plants with bees and butterflies, beetles and birds, lizards and bats. Walker explores how plants attract pollinators using scents, colors, and shapes, and how plants rely on rewards as well as deception to attract animals. He sheds light on the important role of pollination in ecology, evolution, and agriculture, and discusses why habitat management, species recovery programs, and other conservation efforts are more important now than ever.

With hundreds of color photographs and illustrations, Pollination is suitable for university studies and is an essential resource for naturalists, horticulturists, and amateur gardeners.