Plant Adaptation

Like a human being or an animal, a plant must adapt to its environment inorder to survive. Survival usually means struggle. It may be hard to think of a plant as struggling yet that is often the case. A plant, first, must compete with other plants for light, air, soil, and water. Second, it must contend with people and animals, who may eat it or make the environment unfit for it to live in. third, the physical environment itself may be hostile or inadequate to a plants needs. Is there enough light, water, air and soil? Is it warm or cool enough for a given plant species? Needed For Survival Light is vital to a plant, especially a green one. Green plants manufacture foodstuffs in sunlighta process known as photosynthesis. Light also affects the rate of water absorption and flower formation. Temperature must also be taken into account. If it falss below 10 celcius or rises above 430 celcius, serious injuryor death result for most vegetation. Temperature also directly influences the formation of seeds and the production of blossoms. It also helps determine the geographic distribution of plants. Plants cannot survive without water. Many need immense quantities for their development. Therefore, the humidity of the atmosphere, the amount of precipitation, and the presence of streams, lakes, and soil moisture are important to plants. Most plants need plenty of air. The atmosphere contains gases that are essential to their life; oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and nitrogen. Not only the air itself, but its movement-the wind- affects plants greatly. Wind spreads pollen, spores, and certain seeds, enabling plants to grow in many places. But a powerful wind may distort or even kill vegetation particularly trees. It may blow away needed soil. Also, wind increases the rate of evaporation and so may create a water shortage for plants. Soil is extremely important to land plants. A plants development depends in large part on the nature of the soil; its wetness, acidity, minerals, and the amount of oxygen it contains. A plants is also influenced by other living things with which it competes. It has to withstand parasites , hungry birds, and grazing or gnawing mammals. Yet a plant often needs animalsfor example, to spread its pollen or scatter its seeds.

Mendapatkan Cahaya dan Udara Batang dan daun dari pohon dans emak-semak memperlihatkan kepada kita tentang beberapa adaptasi yang membuat sebuah tanaman mendapatkan cahaya dan udara dalam jumlah yang cukup. Dalam beberapa pohon beech, elm, oak, apple and chestnut, there may be shoots that are primarily vertical while others are primarily horizontal. To secure a maximum amount of sunlight, the leaves on the vertical shoots are arranged in spirals so that any given leaf does not shade the leaf next below it on the shoot. Though the buds on a horizontal shoot of these trees may be arranged spirally, the leaves commonly arrange themselves alternately in a common plane on either side of the shoot. In many trees that have their leaves placed opposite to each other, each pair occupies the space between the pair immediately below. You can see this by looking down on a shoot of the horse chestnut. Similar very perfect arrangement will be noted in many climbers. The arrangements of the leaves in the horse chestnut, when examined at the end of a shoot and vertically, has been termed a leaf mosaic because of the variegated pattern that the leaves of this tree present. Another common device for a similar purpose is fringerlike dividing of the leaf. The carrot plant has this type of leaf. Such a leaf obtains good sunlight but does not shade to a great extent the leaves below it. Moreover, it is in less danger from strong winds. Where Light is Little There are numerous plants that live in environment where light never penetrates. Many of these plants are fungi. They have no chlorophyll, but subsist on organic matter, produced by animals or other plants, that may be found wherever the fungi flourish. Rains washing into the underground nooks and crannies may be one of the agents responsible for getting organic matter into these places. In caves and underground mines, or in pits and wells, where there is a certain amount of light penetration-even if very little we find that the are principally green. Not only is this so, but the green coloring of vegetation in caves is often luxuriantly brilliant. In fact, it may appear even more vivid than that of a plant in the open air. This is true of liverworts, many mosses, and some of the ferns that flourish abundantly in these situations. In suchcases the chlorophyll granules are developed in a very special way. The light falling on the plant cells in concentrated on the chlorophyll granules themselves, which thus receive a sufficient supply for food making. Plants also receive a minimum of light in the depths of the sea or at the bottom of lakes and pools, since sunlight is weak or absent there. The light under water diminishes in roportion

to the depth. It is also greatly influenced by the amount of sediment in suspension and consequently varies before and after storms and at different distances from the mouths of rivers and streams. Complete darkness reigns at depths greatres than 200 meters below the surface of clear sea water. At a depth of 170 meters, the illumination is about equal to that at the surface of the water during moonlight. Under such conditions, plants possessing chlorophyll cannot manufacture the sugars ordinarily formed by green plants in sunlight. This explains why plants possessing green coloring matter are rarely seen at depths of more than 60 meters. As a matter of fact, by far the greatest part of the vegetation of the sea is found within about 30 meters of the surface. In thee process of photosynthesis, the leaves of plants do not absorb all the colors of the spectrum to the same degree. The red, orange and yellow rays of light that reach the leaves are absorbed much more effectively than the rest. In deep marin water, vegetation receives more blue to green light than it does red to yellow. This is another reason why conditions are particularly unfavorable for plant growth at considerable depths below the surface of the sea. A striking adaptation is found in red algae. These plants contain, in addition to chlorophyll, pigments known as carotenoids and phycoerythrins. These pigments are present in considerable quantities and give red algae their characteristic color. They also absorb blue to green colors of light more than does cholorophyll. It is suspected that after they absorb light, they transmit the energy from this light to cholorophyll, for photosynthesis. In tropical forests the tree growth is often so profuse that sunlight may never reach the ground. In these hot and humid climates there are a great many epiphytes-plants- such as Spanish moss, orchids, and staghorn fern- that grow on other plant. The epiphytes grow on upper limbs of trees and on poles. Their roots are suspended in air and they absorb moisture and gases from the humid atmosphere. The cells of epiphytes are not directly parasitic, for they contain cholorophyll and they manufacture their own food. However, they may injure trees by their sheer weight. The liana is a vine with a woody stem, which encircles the trunk of a tree as it climbs to the highest branches. In this way, though the liana is rooted in the soil, it can reach the sunlight. Where Light is Strong If we turn our attention to the flora found oon the rocky slopes just above the level of the sea, but still exposed to spray in bad weather, we might expect to find-considering we are in

the presence of direct sunshine- that the plant life would show certain adaptations to the intense light. These special features control the rate of photosynthesis, which is directly affected by the intensity of the sunlight falling on the leaf. The foliage of plants living in strong sunlight is often covered with either a waxy coat or tiny hairs. Photophiles is the name applied to plants whose growth is favored by strong sunlight. These include such types as sunflowers, rosinweeds, coneflowers, asters, milkweeds, spurges, and legumes. Many grasses such as buffalo grass, big bluestem, an Indian grass are also photophiles. Plants that are better adapted to shady areas are known as Photophobes. They are certain features that tend to enchance the absorption of sunlight by the plant. Frequently these plants have thin, broad leaves with stomata, or small openings on both surfaces. The leaf surfaces are dull, and they lack any waxy covering or hairs. The photophobes grow best in light that is from about 15 to 25 per cent as intense as full sunlight. Such plants as mosses, liverworts, ladys slippers, wood sorrel, hydrophyllums, figworts, and geraniums thrive in the shade of the forest. Length of Day In addition to light intensity, the duration of light plays roole in the distribution and reproduction of plants. The summer days are long in the temperate climates of the northern and southern hemisphere. Here so-called long day plants flourish, for they will flower only after many days with long hours of sunshine. These species include beets, lettuce, clover, radish, henbane, and cereals. Short-day plants occur in regions of the world where the day rarely exceeds 13 hours. Plants such as coleus, aster, dahlia, cosmos, and chrysanthemum bloom several times during the year. Certain other plants, such as dandelion, tomato, buckwheat, cotton and sunflower, grow regardless of the duration of sunlight. They will flower in any region of the world, providing other conditions are favorable to their growth. Adapting To Wind and Cold At high mountain elevation and at exposed positions along sea cliffs, trees will show marked distortions because of the strong prevalent winds. Oftend the trees are bent and twisted.

The foliage may grow only on the leeward side of the tree. In general, only pine trees, scrub oaks, and some shrubs are able to withstand such conditions. Winds also produce certain physiological effects, since the increase the rate of transpiration. Plants must balance the water that is evaporated from the leaf surfaces with water absorbed through the roots.if transpiration exceed absorption, the plant will die. The narrow surface of the pine needle lose water less rapidly than does the broad surface of other plant leaves. That is why pines often predominate in mountain areas where the wind is strong. Winds may influence the distribution of plants, for they affect the nature of the soil. High winds cause shifting of the soil, thereby preventing the growth of many plants with shallow root systems. Only perennials with deeply branched roots and special features can grow. succerrfully in this type of light, wind-shifted soil. Perhaps an exception to this rule is the sagebrush, which will roll along, shedding its seeds as it goes. Plants exposed to cold or ddry conditions may be found on high mountain peaks or in polar regions. They may take the form of cushion, mats, or rosettes. An example of such a plant is the lichen. Actually lichens are composed of two plants, an alga and a fungus. The green alga furnishes food for the fungs and the fungus provides shelter for the alga. Without the alga components that give the lichen its green color, the plant would not survive. Lichens are widespread and hardy. They can cover the rocks, trees, and boards that are expoded to sun and wind. The peculiar relationship of the two components of the plant makes lichens relatively independent of their environment. Water Plants Plants such as water lilies and sedges that live in an aquatic region are known as hydrophytes. This name comes from the two Greek words menaing water plants. The soil at the bottom of a stream or pond is. In general muddy and poorly ventilated. Hydrophytes frequently show mahy adaptations that aid in the passage and storage of air within the plant tissues. The stems of the water lily are usually hollow and connect directly with the stomata openings of the leaf. Some aquatic plants, such as the water crowfoot, hace two different types of leaves. The submerged leaves exposed to the outer air are broad, thus presenting the maximumsurface area to the rays of the sun. flowers may be present.

The water crowfoot and the water lily are attached to the bottom of the pond by roots. Certain other aquatic plants float freely, both at thee surface and under the water. Duckweed floats on the surface. Roots arise from its broad, floating leaf structure. Hornwort, on the other hand, is a rootless, completely submerged plant that floats freely underwater. In this way it can move easily to areas where light, temperature, and air conditions are more favorable. Many of the lower plants thrive in moist environments. Ferns, liverworts, and mosses have mobile reproductive cells that require a fluid medium for transportation. Still another interesting adaptation of aquatic plants is their carnivorous habits. Insect abound in humid regions. Plants such as sundew and Venuss-flytrap cacth these insects in their leaves. The leaves of the bladderwort, a completely submerged aquatic plant, are modified to form tiny trapdoors. As aquatic insects brush past the bladder-shapped leaves, the trapdoors open. The insects cannot escape and are eventually digested. The cypress trees of the bayou regions have a special adaptation for transporting air to the submerged plant tissues. Root projections called pneumatophores, or knees grow above the surface of the water. They transmit ajr from the atmosphere to the submerged roots. Generally, trees found in aquatic areas have shallow root system. Swamp trees such as the banyan and mangrove often appear to be propped up. This is because roots grow from the lower branches down into the soil. The mangrove trees often