User:Anuragpolk/sandbox

Article Evaluation
The article I reviewed was about pollen, the formation and structure of it, its use to pollinate plants, as well as much more information about it. When it comes to the flow of the article, everything included makes logical sense; the article transitions from the formation of the substance, to its use and evolution over time, as well as it's other relevance to society today, specifically the high allergy rate to pollen as well as nutritional benefits present with pollen. As expected, the topics discussed in the article are not not-opion based, as one would expect on a "neutral" topic, as there aren't exactly sides to be taken when it comes to pollen. Each subtopic is very well discussed, and for the areas in which there needs to be more in depth, such as the role, methods and uses of pollination, there are subsequent links to the full Wikipedia page on the topic, while making sure to still hit the main points in the actual pollen page (subsequent link serves as a means to get even further information). One thing I would change about the format of the article in the order in which it is presented, as the history of the pollen should all be in order and present at the beginning of the article, and then moving into what we currently know about how important pollen is to the reproduction of plants today.

The information presented in the article all seems to be well cited, and while it's impossible to check up on the citations when a book (ISBN) is being cited, the articles linked in the article lead to legitimate websites, and it's very clear where all the information comes from. While the articles don't appear to be biased in anyways, as for the most they all seem to be a part of publications on various research topics done on pollen, in some cases they do seem to be very dated articles. A few of the articles have been taken from the Early 2000's and it is possible that new updated information could be used to update the article. However, even if referencing slightly older publications, nothing in the article seems to at all be dated. In the Talk Page of the article, it mainly just goes into clarifications that users have within the various sections of the article, asking for clarifications on various parts of pollen, whether it be the structure, the nutritional value, or its classification. For the most part, there aren't exactly "debates" about the topic, but rather just questions about pollen that want to be answered, asking for more information about the topic and simply wanting further conversation. The article has been rated as a level-4 vital article concerning Science & Biology, as well being part of the WikiProject Plants division, however it is noted that this is "B+" article, indication that there is still much room for improvement.

Articles for Discussion
Option #1: Abiotic Pollination

In the article regrading pollination, there is a great amount of discussion when it comes to biotic pollination which refers to the process of active pollination such as that through the use of an insect or animal. The subsequent article on pollinators themselves dives into the different types of pollinators, such as those of bees and vertebrates, their strategy as well as the structure of plants that have co-evolved with their pollinators. However, there hasn't been that much delved into the role of abiotic pollination, when plants rely on either the wind or water in the movement of pollen from one area to the next, as there is simply a one paragraph description about it, let alone another another subsequent page. There could be a lot further study in the advantages that of either a wind pollinator or water pollinator, as each of those articles have very little substance to them and could be greatly expanded upon.

Abiotic Pollination Info From Sources/Formation of Draft
''Above is just a general outline for how I would like for my draft to be formatted, with each of the subtopics I have diverged into much more discussed upon by the articles linked to each area of research. References are an indicator of which articles will be used to bolster and supplement the information already presented, but not of quotes directly from said article.''
 * 1) Abiotic Pollination Definition/Benefits
 * 2) * Abiotic Pollination are pollinations methods which do not involve the use of other organisms, but rather rely on "natural" sources such as that of water or wind, or even rain pollination.
 * 3) * The basic benefits of abiotic pollination is that the flower is not necessarily concerned with diverting energy into attracting pollinators to "come" to its flower so that it could spread its pollen, but can rather spend most of its resources into simple the production of more pollen that can be spread using other resources.
 * 4) * Roughly 20% of all angiosperm families rely on this method of pollination
 * 5) Evolution of Wind Pollination & Abiotic Pollination as a whole
 * 6) * The rise of wind pollination as an alternate means to that of pollinators is important to understanding the bigger picture as to the rise of abiotic pollinators to begin with. Seeing as wind pollination most likely evolved from insect pollination, this evolution came from a need that insect pollinators were not providing to the plants.
 * 7) * Amphobily has been recently studied to have been more common than previously assumed, and may be a stable/transitional state, and may be more likely to evolve in small simple flowers.
 * 8) * From wind, the rise of abiotic pollination in the forms of water or rain (water being flowing down a river and rain being transported down by the actual rain) could provide useful insight as to why simple wind pollination was not sufficient enough.
 * 9) * Roughly 98% of pollination is through wind.
 * 10) Differences of Biotic v Abiotic Pollination
 * 11) * Aside from the clear difference in means of pollination (use of pollinator v wind/water), the same species of plant could vary between the use of biotic and abiotic pollination, each providing its own benefits and costs. The species of Oeceoclades maculata uses both means of pollination and can provide insight into the differences of the two pollination types.
 * 12) * Differences in pollination methods have allowed for the use of self-pollination in the species, as well as differences in pollination method during rainy months during which abiotic pollination could be energetically favorable. Growing in an environment with such heavy rain pollination, it could be insightful to look into why outcrossing via butterfly pollination might be more favorable.

Methods of Pollination
Pollination typically occurs in two different "main" dispersal methods, either being that of biotic or abiotic pollination. The difference between the two lies in that biotic pollination rely on pollinators: organisms that would help move the pollen from one flower to another. Abiotic pollination on the other hand does not involve the use of any other organism; rather they rely on "natural" sources such as that of wind, water or even rain pollination. About 80% of angiosperms rely on biotic pollination, with the remaining 20% on abiotic.

Abiotic Pollination
Abiotic plants, as mentioned, do not involve the use of other organisms in its movement of pollen from one flower to another. Abiotic pollination allows for the plant to avoid spending so much energy into attracting pollinators to them, whether that be through development of flowers, nectar, tepals, etc. Rather, the flower is concerned with spend its resources on the development of pollen, as it has other means of transporting that pollen to a waiting ovule on another plant.

Wind Pollination
The most common form of abiotic pollination is anemophily, pollination by wind, as roughly 98% of all abiotic plants fall under this category. It's believed that wind pollination arose from insect pollination, most likely due to changes in either the environment itself or the availability of pollinators in said environment. Changes in availability in pollinators could lead to wasted energy from the perspective of the plants, as it takes a great deal of energy to form an attractive flower that can be used as an attractant for a pollinator. As a result, these deviations could lead to great problems for those plants that can only rely on the help of external pollinators. As a result, wind pollination was a likely voluntary step to avoid this problem for future problems. In fact, it has been recently discovered that wind pollination is more 'popular' than previously thought, indicating that it might be a transitional state in plants. It was often believed that wind pollination is simply concerned with creating great deals of pollen, and that could combat its "inaccuracy." However, it was recently found that the transfer of pollen is more efficient than previously thought, challenging what we previously believed to be a negative aspect of abiotic plants. This accuracy is improved as these wind pollinated plants have developed to have specific heights, in addition to specific floral, stamen and stigma positions that promote effective pollen dispersal. Wind pollination is an important first step when understand the history of aboitic pollination, as it is likely that from here came the rise of pollination through water.

Water Pollination
Pollination by water, hydrophily, uses water as a means of transporting pollen from one plant to another. Usually, plants that utilize this type of abiotic pollination are in "water environments", as the water around it acts as an easy vector for movement. For example, anthers can travel across the surface of the water to carry dry pollen from one flower to another, which prevents the pollen from actually having to come in contact with the water itself. In V. spiralis, an unopened male flowers floats to the surface of the water, and upon reaching the surface they open up and the fertile anthers then project forward. The female flower, also floating on the surface of the water, has its stigma protected from the water, and it's sepals are slightly depressed into the water which then allows for the male flowers to tumble in.

Rain pollination, a subsection of hydrophily, although not as common, has been another step forward in the diversity of abiotic pollination, as it has been recently been shown as a dispersal methods in many different plants. This means of pollination arose from those plants that were exposed to great periods of rain, and used the environment to its advantage. Typically, during rain showers a plant can experience great damage, including the the breakdown of petals & tepals, and the rotting of stamens & styles. Periods of rain also are a determent against biotic pollination, as it prevents the possible pollen uptake by insects or other organisms. Those plants that have adapted to rain pollination are instead adapted to have protected themselves during these intense showers, and use the weather advantageously by transporting their pollen through the water. In examples of rain pollination, the rain allows for the anther cap to be removed, allowing for the pollen to be exposed. After exposure, raindrops causes the pollen to be shot upward, when the stipe pulls them back, and then fall into the cavity of the stigma. In A. rigida, this pollination methods allows the plant to self-pollinate, very useful when biotic pollinators in the environment have decreased. This self-pollination is only possible through the assistance of rain pollination, providing assistance for the plants reproductive purposes, without ever damaging the plant.

Switching of Pollination Methods
It is possible for the a single plant to vary between its pollination method, cycling between biotic and abiotic pollination. Oeceoclades maculata various between its use of pollination methods, depending on its environmental conditions. The species fluctuates between its use of either rain pollination, where the rain allows for the pollen to travel from one flower to another, or through the assistance of butterflies. These changes in pollination methods have allowed for the species to also alternate between cross and self pollination, as the production of fruit sets can vary dependent on the environments in which O. maculata is present in.

Revisions
I have made several changes to my Article after going through the revisions that were suggested to me. I made sure to run through my article to avoid any more grammatical or spelling errors, to make sure it was first written properly. Then I added more information to the process of rain pollination to balance it out with the depth that wind pollination was gone into, and to explain that there is great variation in the area of abiotic pollination.