Bhawna Bhardwaj,Subject matter expert at Edumarz
Solution-No, geographical isolation is not a major factor in the speciation of a self-pollinating plant species because plants that self-pollinate do not need other plants to reproduce. In self-pollination, the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma of the same or different flowers of the same plant takes place. So, the distance from the other plant does not affect the process of reproduction. Therefore, no genetic variations are expected to occur in the traits of the species.
Explanation–
Pollination is the mechanism of transfer of pollen grains from the anther of the same flower or different flower of the same plant or different flower.
Pollination is of two types-
Self-pollination
Cross-pollination
Self-pollination is the mechanism of transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma of the same flower or different flower of the same plant.
Cross-pollination is the mechanism of transfer of pollen grains from the anther of one plant to the stigma of another flower of the different plant.
In self-pollination, geographical isolation does not contribute to speciation-
In these plants, the pollen grains are transferred from the same flower or different flowers from the same plant.
Hence, the distance from the other plants does not affect the process of reproduction in self-pollinating plant species.
