Adaptation of plants to their habitats.

An adaptation is structural,physiological or behavioural change in an

organism that increases its chance of survivalin a specific envivonment .plant
adapt to different habitats such as deserts,water,grassland,forest and salty
masses.

Examples of these plants

i. Xerotypes
ii. Mesophytes
iii. Halophytes
iv. Hydrophytes

Hydrophytes

These are plants that grow in fresh water

This habitat is characterized by a lot of water ,low oxygen concentration,low

light intensity and low mineral salt concentration.

Adaptation of hydrophtes

1) Hydrophytes such as waterlily and water hynach have broad leaves with
many stomata on the upper surface to increase transpiration.
2) Submerged hydrophytes such as ceratophyllum plants have high dissected
leaves to increase surface area for photosynthesis and gaseous exchange.
3) Their leaves have numerous and sensitive chloroplast that
photosynthesizes under low light intensity.
4) They have large air filled tissue (aeranchyma tissues)for buoyancy and
gaseous exchange.aeronchyma tissue is also tolerant to ethanol produced
during anaerobic respiration.
5) Hydrophytes such as salvinia have pooly developed roots to reduce
absorption of water.
6) Their flowers are raised above the water to allow pollination.
7) The leaves of some hydrophytes such as pastia and silvinia are hairy and
waxy to keep water away from the leaf surface ,this makes them water
proof.
 8) Floating hydrophytes have long fibrous roots to absorb mineral salts.
9) Plants such as salvinia have poorly developedvascular bundles because
they absorb water by diffusion.
10) Submerged hydrophytes such as the elodea
plant have no stomata on their leaves,oxygen produced by photosynthesis
is stored in their aerenchyma tissue and used for respiration.

Halophytes

These are plants that grow in salty or marine water,in this habitat there is low
light intensity,high salt concentration mud and low amount of dissolved oxygen
and carbon dioxide

Adaptation

1) Mangroves have pneumatophores(aerial roots)for gaseous exchange

2) They have lectiles for gaseous exchange
3) Mangrove growing in mudflat have ……….roots for support and
anchorage.
4) These plants have cells which are tolerant to dehydration in high salt
environment.
5) Sea weeds grow close to the water surface for exposure to light for
photosynthesis.
6) Most plants have succulent tissue to store water
7) Surbmerged plants are able to carry out photosynthesis under low light
intensity
8) Root cells retain a lot of salt to enable the root to absorb water by osmosis
9) They have silt roots for anchorage
10) Their fruits have large aerenchyma tissue
for buoyancy,thus keeping them afloat for dispersal.
 11) In some seedgerminate while still attached
to parent plant.

Mesophytes

Mesophytes are plants that grow under normal conditions with enough
rainfall,moderate humidity and moderate temperature with alow diunal
range.they are mostly found in tropical rain forest.

Adaptation
i. Trees grow tall to compete for light,there is little under growth
ii. Climbers such as lianas support themselves on stemsof large trees in order
to reach light
iii. They have numerous leaves with numerous chloroplast to increase the
surface area for transpiration and photosynthesis.
iv. Mesophytes show leaf mosare to minimize overlapping of leaves for
maximum exposure to sunlight for photosynthesis.
v. They have broad leaves with thin cuticles and numerous stomata on both
sides of the leaf to increase photosynthesis and transpiration.
vi. Some are shallow rooted but have buttress roots for extra support
vii. Some in dry ares have more stomata on the lower leaf surface than on the
upper surface to reduce the rate of transpiration.
viii. Some mesophytes have waxy and gloss surface to reflact light rays and
allow rain water to drop off easily
ix. Epiphytesgrow on branches of tall trees such as mosses and orchids

Xerophytes

Xerophytes are plants that grow in desert,desert have low rainfall very high day
temperature,low night tempreture,low humidity and strong winds.

Adaptation
 i. they have reduced leaf surface to reduce the rate of transpiration ,some of
the adaptations include folded leaves,needle like leaves,leaves modified to
spine and /or scale and have fewer leaves.
ii. Some shed leaves during drought,while others have hairy leaves to reduce
waterloss.
iii. Stomatal adaptations that reduce the rate of transpiration include:
a) Some have few or no stomata on the upper surface of the leaf.
b) Reversed stomata rhyth(closed stomata during the day and open at
night)
c) Small sized stomata usually on the lower surface
d) Some have sunken stomata such as pine
iv. some plants have thick waxy cuticle to reduce transpiration,for example in
the aloe,sisal and euporbia plants.
v. some have a long taproot system to absorb water from lower layers of the
soil others have superficial roots that grow horizontally to absorb surface
water after high showers.
vi. Some plants such as byophyllum and cactus store water in large
pavenchyma cells found in succulent stems and leaves.