BIO 132 - Concepts of Biology: Flowers and Food

Course unit(s): 1
Flowers (of a sort) are not a rarity in our daily lives. They brighten tables in restaurants, symbolize affection, or convey empathy for a loss. But the hidden flowers in our lives provide so much more - fruits, vegetables, and honey for starters. However, this bounty is not obtainable with flowers alone, they require the assistance of pollinators to jump from fragrant eye candy to satisfying snack. This course explores the process of pollination and its contribution to human food webs. In doing so we will necessarily grapple with the impacts of population declines in many pollinator species and explore their consequences on food security.