Explain how animals aid plant reproduction through pollen transport?

Answer 1

Lets start with some definitions-

pollen is the male reproductive bit that joins with a female ova of a plant and grows into a fruit that contains seeds, that can grow into plants. Parent plants produce more plants in the process of reproduction.

Some plants have male flowers only on male plants and ova only on female plants. Tough for the plants when they try to reproduce because plants can't move the pollen to the ova.

So plants need something else to pick up the pollen and place it in the ova. One way this happens is when pollen is carried by wind and floats onto ovas on other plants. Another problem for reproduction happens when the male flower and female flowers are on the same plant, but placed so that pollen does not fall onto a flower with a ripe ova, or pollen is ripe before the ova is ripe and able to be fertilized.

Animals such as bees and other insects are attracted to the sweet smell deep in the flower, go in to get the nectar and wind up covered with pollen as they back out. As the bee goes to another flower, the pollen is scraped off as the bee descends into the narrowing flower. When a bee goes from a flower with pollen and delivers the pollen to a ripe ova, it helps the plant reproduce.

Also pollen carried from one plant to another plant helps to mix the genes from each plant to the rest of the plants. Its not just bugs that do this. Pollen is also scraped onto the hair or feathers of animals passing by and is carried to other plants where it may fertilize an ova. Without something to move pollen from one plant to another, many plants could not make more plants.