World Wildlife Day is observed annually on March 3 to celebrate our rich, global heritage of wild plants and animals. The theme of this year’s observance is Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation. Here in Trinidad and Tobago, World Wildlife Day gives us the opportunity to focus on our local species and what is being done and can be done to conserve them.
The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Trinidad and Tobago project (BES-Net TT) is being implemented jointly by the Ministry of Planning and Development and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project champions the conservation of some of the less noticeable but very important native species that are responsible for the critical process of pollination. This article highlights the work being done to build knowledge and protect these local wildlife species.
Pollination - an important process
Butterflies and bees are easily linked to flowers, as these insects are often seen visiting plants and resting on or hovering near to flowers, which bear the main reproductive structures of flowering plants. Floral visitors make these visits hoping to extract nectar from flower stores to fuel their activities. Depending on the location of the nectar and the mechanism the floral visitor uses to extract this liquid food, pollen grains from the flower may be passively collected by the visitor – on its head, mouthparts, or abdomen. These pollen grains can later be transferred to another flower – hopefully of the same plant species – to initiate the simple process of pollination. Butterflies, bees, birds, bats, beetles, even lizards and spiders, may also function as pollinators on floral visits.
[caption id="attachment_1003576" align="alignnone" width="768"] Two field assistants deploying pollinator sampling traps. - courtesy TT Filed Naturalist Club[/caption]
It has been estimated that approximately one-third of all the produce we gather from plants for food has been facilitated through pollinators. Through their generally passive interaction with pollen grains, pollinators transfer male reproductive material from flower to flower. This is the precursor to the important process of fertilisation, in which male reproductive cells from the pollen grains make their way into the female structures of the flower and fuse with the female reproductive cells or ovules. It is only when this process occurs, can the plant produce seeds and fruit to effect plant reproduction.
There are many organisms found in our agricultural systems, some of which are deemed pests and are controlled using various strategies. Unfortunately, not all strategies used in pest control target only the pest species; regular use of broad-spectrum pesticides may also ‘take down’ pollinators in the sweep to eliminate pests. Together with creeping urbanisation, pollution and unregulated felling of trees, the habitats of many of our pollinator species are being eliminated. There are forest and fruit tree species that are unique to our country and the viability of our agricultural production ens
