pollination, some questions

[carol]

i'm working on a research about pollinators and how they affect the yield of a certain fruit. i have some questions. i don't really ask for specific answers. related ideas or hints would be appreciated.

1. ways to measure yield of fruit tree (considering both quality and quantity)

2. is there a way to control the type of pollinator that will have access to the flowers?

3. what "reward" do night pollinators (bat and moth) get from trees with flowers that bloom during the night?

 

i'm also having a hard time thinking of how to control some variables.

[CharonY]

1) for quantity the dry weight or any other denominator of biomass would be easy to do. Quality is harder to assess. What makes one fruit of better quality to another (for the plant it is only of interest whether the seeds will spread efficiently, for those feeding off the plant taste or energy content might be more important).

 

2) If it is not in a controlled environment the easiest thing I can think of is a filtering by size e.g. nets of different sizes.

 

3) uhm... nectar?

[carol]

i've read about the third question. they feed on nectar. bats also eat the pollens and sometimes the flowers.

 

about Q1. this fruit is usually sold in the market. is it alright if the data would be based on how much the farmer earned? would it be valid?

 

maybe i'll try the nets.

 

thanks:)