The Relationship Between Fruit-Eating Birds and Plants That Yield Fruits

Thesis Statement: The relationship between fruit-eating birds and plants that yield fruits is a reflection of coevolution because of the close ecological relationship between the two species.

I. Introductory Paragraph

A. Topic Sentence: Fruit-eating birds disperse plant seeds and, as a result, support food reproduction.

B. Supporting Sentences:

1. As birds eat fruits, they disperse the seeds to other areas.

2. Dispersal of seeds by fruit-eating birds is important in food production. It helps in the reproduction and spread of plants that yield edible fruits. New trees mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.

3. Fruits can also be used to manufacture various products including wine. These products are important to human industries.

C. Clincher Sentence Idea: Co-dependency between different species results in mutualistic relationships.

II. Body Paragraph 1

A. Topic Sentence: A mutual relationship exists between fruit-eating birds and plants that yield fruits. These plants provide food to the birds as they disperse plant seeds efficiently (Sekercioglu, Wenny and Whelan 108).

B. Supporting Sentences:

1. Fruit-eating birds help to spread the seeds of plants that yield fruits in different areas. These fruits are too heavy to be carried by wind.

2. The fruit-eating birds have unique features to aid the spread of seeds to different areas from where they germinate (Whelan, Wenny and Marquis 26).

3. New trees not only provide fruits that can be consumed by humans but also mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.

C. Clincher Sentence: Coevolution not only benefits the directly co-dependent species but also offers several benefits to humanity and the environment.

III. Body Paragraph 2

A. Topic Sentence Idea: Biologists suggest that fruit-producing plants have evolved over the years to attract fruit-eating birds.

B. Supporting Sentences:

1. Fruit-producing plants have bright-colored fruits that are odorless to attract the birds (Renoult et al. 678).

2. The evolution of fruit-producing plants match the highly-developed visual capabilities of fruit-eating birds.

3. Some studies have shown that birds may have color preferences, a critical factor that may have informed the coevolution.

C. Clincher Sentence: Fruit-producing plants may have evolved fruit colors over time to match the color preferences of birds. However, scientists have not been able to determine the element in these plants that caused the evolution.

IV. Body Paragraph 3

A. Topic Sentence Idea: Co-dependency between fruit-eating birds and fruit colors offers crucial insights into the color preferences of birds.

B. Supporting Sentences:

1. Specific species of birds get attracted to fruits of a particular color (Mello et al. 9).

2. Understanding the relationship between fruit-eating birds’ species and fruits they are attracted to can help biologists gain knowledge on the sense of sight and smell of the former.

C. Clincher Sentence: Scientific studies can facilitate the understanding of the ways through which coevolution can be used to benefit humanity and ensure the sustainability of various ecosystems.

V. Concluding Paragraph

A. Topic Sentence: Coevolution has ensured the sustainability of different species

B. Supporting Sentences:

1. Co-dependency between fruit-eating birds and fruit-producing plants ensures the continuity of their species (Estrada and Fleming 9).

2. Biologists have made progress in understanding different driving factors for this coevolution.

C. Clincher Sentence: Fruit-eating birds coevolve with fruit producing plants.

VI. Works Cited

A. Sekercioglu, Çagan H., Wenny, Daniel G. and Whelan, Christopher J. eds. Why Birds Matter: Avian Ecological Function And Ecosystem Services. University of Chicago Press, 2016.

B. Whelan, Christopher J., Wenny, Daniel G, and Marquis, Robert J. “Ecosystem Services Provided By Birds.” Annals Of The New York Academy Of Sciences 1134.1 (2008): 25-60.

C. Renoult, Julien P., Valido, Alfredo., Jordano, Pedro and Schaefer, Martin. ”Adaptation Of Flower And Fruit Colours To Multiple, Distinct Mutualists.” New Phytologist

201.2 (2014): 678-686.

D. Mello, A. R. Marco., Marquitti, M.D. Flávia., Guimarães, Paulo R., Kalko K. V. Elisabeth, Jordano, Pedro and de Aguiar, A. M. Marcus. Mello, Marco Aurelio Ribeiro, et al. ”The modularity of seed dispersal: differences in structure and robustness between bat–and bird–fruit networks.” Oecologia 167.1 (2011): 131.

E. Estrada, Alejandro and Fleming, Theodore H. Frugivores and Seed Dispersal. vol. 15. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.