The Water

Factor
WATER CYCLE IN NATURE
 Water exhibits cyclic flow between atmosphere ,
land and sea , and between living organisms and
their environment referred as water cycle or
hydrological cycle.
 Without cycling of water ecosystem could not
function , and life could not maintained.
 Watre cycle is characterized by :

1. Precipitation.
2. Interception.
3. Infilteration.
4. Evaporation.
STAGES OF WATER CYCLE
1. Precipitation:
 It results from condensation of water vapours
derived from surface of oceans. It is the major
source of soil moisture and driving force of the
water cycle.
 Precipitation begins as water vapour in
atmosphere . When the air rises it is cooled and
when it rises above the temperature level at
which condensation take place ,clouds form.
 The condensing moisture aggregate to droplets ,
when diameter reach about 1mm ,they fall as
rain.
CONT.
2. Interception:
 As the precipitation reach earth , some water
reaches ground directly , some is intercepted by
vegetation and by building etc.
 Because of interception various amount of water
evaporates into atmosphere without reaching
the soil surface.
3.Infilterartion:
 The precipitation that reaches the soil moves in
to ground by infilterartion. More intense the rain,
greater would be the infiltration.
CONT.
 Water seeps down and called gravitational water.
 A great amount of water is used by humans and for
domestic purposes.
 A part of water is held in soil by capillary forces
between the soil particles called capillary water.
4.Evaporation:
 Water on the surface of ground, on the surface of
vegetation, and in stream, lakes and oceans return
to atmosphere by evaporation.
 Some water is lost by roots of plants .

 The total loss of water from the surface of ground is

called as evapotranspiration.
ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE
 Water exist as :
1) Invisible vapour (humidity).

2) Visible vapour (cloud and fog).

1. Humidity:
i. The actual amount of water vapours in
atmosphere is known as absolute humidity.
ii. It is measured in ounces per cubic yard or
grains per cubic foot of air.
iii. It differs from place to place.
CONT.
iv. It declines if we move from equator (20mm)
towards pole (1mm).
v. The percentage of moisture present in atmosphere
as compared to its full capacity is called relative
humidity .It is defined as “percentage of maximum
quantity that the air can hold at a temperature “.
vi. Temperature governs humidity .warm air can hold
more water than cold air. The capacity of air
carrying vapours become double with increase of
11°c.
vii. Relative humidity is low during day and high in
night.
viii. In rain forests low relative humidity is 80% and in
desert it may be below 10%.
CONT.
2. Cloud and fog :
i. It consist of water droplets or some sometime
ice crystals formed from cooling of air to a
temperature below its dew point.
ii. They differ in their locations.
iii. Clouds are separated from earth while fog is
present near the earth. When further cooled
both converted to droplets.
iv. Clouds are formed when air moves upward
from land surface into colder regions of
atmosphere.
CONT.
v. Fog is formed by warm air passing over cold
water currents in the sea , by warm air rising
up a sloping land surface to high elevations ,
and by rapid cooling of land surface during
night.
MEASUREMENT OF RELATIVE HUMIDITY
PSYCHROMETER

 The most common instrument is used to measure

relative humidity is called psychrometer.
 It Consist of pair of thermometer, bulb of one
thermometer is covered with cloth, cloth is
wetted, then thermometers are whirled in air.
 Temperature of wet bulb is lowered compared to
dry one. Dry bulb indicates true temperature and
relative humidity is read by means of two
temperatures .At 100% relative humidity , both
temp. are identical.
IMPORTANCE OF ATMOSPHERIC
MOISTURE TO PLANTS

1. Effect on intensity of solar radiations:

 Vapour in atmosphere intercept with solar
radiations, before it reaches the earth hence
less energy is available for photosynthesis and
respiration. E.g. slow growing dwarfed trees.
2. Effects on evaporation and transpiration:
 With the increase in relative humidity ,reduces
the rate of evaporation and transpiration and
vice versa.
CONT.
3. Source of soil moisture :
 When fog moves horizontally, or clouds come in
contact with earth , minute water droplets
deposits as they pass through foliage and
absorbed by soil.
4. Direct use by plants :
 Mosses and lichens absorb moisture from humid
atmosphere without waiting for condensation.
When relative humidity rises above 85%,
epiphytes and xerophytes absorb water directly.
PRECIPITATION

 Precipitation is condensation of water vapours in

the form of rain ,hail and snow etc.
 It is source of soil moisture.

 It is major driving force of water cycle as well.

 Precipitation directly or indirectly affects the

plant life through humidity and water content of
the soil , therefore important ecological factor.
TYPES OF PRECIPITATION
 It has three major types :
1.Cyclonic precipitation.
2.Orographic precipitation.
3. Convection precipitation.
1. cyclonic precipitation:
 It is caused by eddies of warm air several
hundred miles in diameter rising in vertical
spirals about centers of low atmospheric
pressure. These storms moves easterly along
the edge of cold polar air masses that cap both
northern and southern hemisphere.
CONT.
 As the ascending mass of air in cyclone rises, it
expand , mingles with cold air , greatly cooled ,
and precipitation result from this phenomenon.
2. Orographic precipitation:
 It caused by currents of air rising over an
elevation, expansion and cooling cause
precipitation.
3.CONVECTION PRECIPITATION
 It occurs in summer, air next to ground is
heated and density is lowered as compared to
upper atmosphere . It moves upward vertically
to altitude where it is chilled to condensation
point and bring down rain.
FORMS OF PRECIPITATION
 Normally precipitation takes three forms given
below:
1. Snow:
 When condensation takes place under very low
temperature ( below 32°F) the moisture
released after condensation is frozen in the
form of hexagonal crystals called snow.
2. Hail and steel:
 Sometime drops become solidified in to small
rounded piece of ice called hail.
 The falling snow or hail mixed with rain is
steel.
CONT.
3. Rainfall:
 Clouds consist of millions of tiny water droplets
.when clouds become older the droplets coalesce
to form large drops, reach certain size , and fall
out as rain.
 It is determined by:
a) Geography.
b) Pattern of air movement.
MEASUREMENT OF PRECIPITATION.
 Rainfall is measured in inches or millimeters.
 Measured by rain gauge.

 Simple rain gauge consist of funnel with vertical

collar around rim of funnel which collects water
.the volume of water can be measured by pouring
in to graduated cylinder. And a calibrated stick is
inserted to measure collected water.
 Daily rainfall is measured then monthly rainfall
is taken by average of daily rainfall.
CONT.
 The mean annual rainfall is derived from the
mean of monthly rainfall.
IMPORTANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO
PLANTS

1. Snow:
 It may be injurious or beneficial.
 Snow that melt is a source of water.
 By wind and by rain break off tree branches.
 At high altitude and latitude it damage
vegetation.
 Snow press seedlings down-may attacked by
fungus easily.
CONT.
2. Rainfall:
 Source of moisture for soil.

 Helps to crack open thin skinned fruits e.g.

cherries and tomatoes and release seeds.
 The amount of rain determine vegetational zones
e.g. Subtropical forests ,rain forest etc.
3. Hail and steel:
 Cause damage to aerial parts of plants.
DROUGHT AND DROUGHT RESISTANCE
OF PLANT DROUGHT

 It can be defined as : “an extreme fluctuations

from the mean rainfall (less than 75%) at certain
place on particular area” .
 Xerophytes and succulents are adapted to water
stress.
 If rainfall is far enough below than normal, it
badly effects vegetation. This is referred as
drought. Drought leads to:
 Reduction in size.

 Reduction in yield and vigour.

 Leads to death.
CONT.
 When dry season is accompanied with higher
temperature, that causes the plants to use up soil
moisture very rapidly, promoting the effects of
drought.
 plant response to drought:

 plants exhibits responses to drought variously

such as :
i. In some plants leaves curl , in other these wilt ,
or stomata closed.
ii. Prolonged drought inhibit production of
chlorophyll so leaves turn yellow.
CONT.
iii. Deciduous trees may shed leaves prematurely.
iv. Water stressed plants reduce osmotic potential
due to accumulation of ions calcium, sodium,
magnesium in leaves.
v. Conifers and evergreen species- winter drought
–browning of needles and die back of twigs
from dehydration.
PLANT ADAPTATIONS TO DROUGHT

 Plants in arid and semi arid regions have evolved

adaptation to survive and reproduce in drought
.These include :
1. Reduction in leaf area of canopy:
 Plants drop their leaves and reduce leaf area
canopy, and develop new leaves at the onset of
rainy season .
 It affects photosynthesis but it is compensated
by green stem.
CONT.
2. Change of angle of leaves:
 When water is limited , plants reorient leaves so
surface is parallel to sun rays and reducing the
transpiration and evaporation.
3. Succulence:
 Development of fleshy tissues for storage and
retention of water in plant body are called
succulent plants e.g. cacti .they absorb water in
rainy season and use this water in dry season.
CONT.
4. Leaf adaptations:
 Various leaf adaptations:

a) Small leaves .
b) Cell walls thickened.
c) Stomata modified.
d) Palisade tissues are more developed.
e) Vascular system denser.
f) Coated with waxes and resins.
CONT.
5. Root adaptations:
a) Deep roots can reach underground water.
b) Spreading shallow root- cover large area.
6. Ephemerals life cycle:
 Seeds germinate quickly- bloom and produce
seeds before moisture gone- drought escapers –
survive as dormant seed.
7.Halophytes:
 Have salt secreting glands and leaves coated
with waxes.
ECOLOGICAL CLASSES OF PLANTS
BASED ON WATER RELATIONS

1.Hydrophytes:
 It include aquatics which normally grow in
water.
 Presence of spongy tissues.

 Presence of air spaces.

 Phytoplanktons , Floating (wolffia) ,Submerged

(Elodea , Emergents (typha).
CONT.
2. Xerophytes:
 Plants live in dry habitat.

 Complete life cycle in short duration.

 Succulents contain water storing tissues.

 E.g. cacti.

3. Mesophytes:
 Plants can not inhabit water or wet soil and soils
where water is depleted.
The
Temperature
Factor
HEAT AND TEMPERATURE
 All organisms live in a thermal environment is
characterized by heat and temperature.
 Heat is form of kinetic energy possessed by all
substances due to random motion of molecules of
that substance.
 Temperature is direct measure of heat .it
expresses intensity of hotness and tendency to
give up heat.
TEMPERATURE AS AN ECOLOGICAL
FACTORS

1. Most important factor.

2. It affects growth and reproduction of plants.
3. Little biological activity below 0°c and above
50°c.( below 0°c due to water immobilization
and above 50°c protein denatures).
4. They can grow and reproduce only in a narrow
range of temperature, optimum temperature.
5. They maintain their their heat by reradiation,
convection, and transpiration.
CONT.
6. Temperature varies in :
 Space.
 Time.
 Altitude.
 Latitude.
 Wind, water.
 Vegetation cover.
PLANTS AND THERMAL ENVIRONMENT
 Plants are fixed at place so they can not move
hence they have to experience wide range of
temperature .
 Their roots, crown, stem has to experience
different temperature in day.
 Internal temperature is influenced by
environment.
 They maintain their heat by reradiation,
convection, and transpiration.
FROST HARDENING
 Plant can tolerate extremes of cold by frost
hardening i.e. formation or addition of antifreeze
compounds in roots, shoots, and leaves and hence
lower the freezing point through super cooling.
IMPORTANCE OF TEMPERATURE TO
PLANTS

1. Temperature and metabolism:

 It affects metabolic processes of plants by
influencing the kinetics of chemical reactions
and effectiveness of enzymes.
 Transpiration, photosynthesis, respiration are
effected by temperature , for every 10°c
increase in temperature metabolic rate is
doubled.
2. TEMPERATURE, GROWTH AND
REPRODUCTION

 Plants can grow and reproduce with in narrow

range called optimum temperature.
 Each part of life cycle require different
temperature e.g. temperature necessary for
germination is lower than the , temperature that
favors flower development.
 Optimum temperature vary among species, and
among individuals in population.
TEMPERATURE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL
PROCESSES

a) Heat stress:
 Heat affects physiological processes of plants
.This is called heat stress and it cause :
i. Photosynthesis declines.
ii. Shut down normal protein synthesis.
iii. Plants die at 50°c.
iv. High temp. kill protoplasm.
B) COLD STRESS
 When temperatures drops below minimum for
growth of plant. Plant become dormant and
photosynthesis and respiration slows down called
cold stress. it leads to:
i. Chlorosis.
ii. Precipitation of proteins.
iii. Freezing of water.

iv. Viscosity of water is doubled.

v. Cracks in shoots hence vulnerable to parasitic
fungi into living tissues.
TEMPERATURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF
PLANTS

 The temperature limits the ranges of plant

species directly or indirectly.
 Temperature in combination with moisture
determines the distribution of vegetation.
 Temp. is maximum at equator and decrease
gradually towards poles hence vegetation is
maximum at equator.
 In addition to temperature rainfall, topography,
soil and geology also important in determining
distribution of plants.
CONT.
 The successive zones of vegetation from base to
upward :
a. Tropical.
b. Subtropical.
c. Temperate.
d. Alpine.
 Aquatic habitat is divided to:
a. Epilimnion: Zone –vertical gradient of
decreasing temperature.
CONT.
b. Thermocline or metalimnion: Short zone- rapidly
falling temperature.
c. Hypolimnion: Bottom cold zone where no
temperature gradient.
 Temperature and plant diseases:
 The ability of parasitic fungi to enter and develop with
in host organisms depends upon temperature below
13°c , the seedling of maize are susceptible to diseas.
PLANT PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES
AND ADAPTATIONS TO TEMPERATURE

 Plants have developed a number of morphological

and physiological adaptations during extremes of
temperature :
1. Formation of dormant bulbs and tubers.
2. Sun leaves of oaks are smaller and have
deeper lobes than shade plant increasing
surface area for cooling.
3. Desert plants develop small leaves to avoid
transpiration.
4. Plants resist to extreme temp. by forming thick
walled spores.
CONT.
5. In some plants osmotic concentration increases
that prevent freezing point .Increase in osmotic
value enhances amount of bound water in
colloidal form e.g. in winter rye leaves and
stems are flexible at very low temperature.
6. Cacti are succulents have high level of bound
water and high cytoplasmic viscosity.
7. Removal of water from vacuoles- no water to
freeze in cold e.g. dry seeds are able to
germinate even after exposure with -190°c for
three weeks.
CONT.
8. Dormancy helps seeds in overwintering.
Similarly aestivation that occurs during
summer help to resist high temp.
9. Certain plants when exposed to rise in temp.
,produce heat shock proteins.
10. Plants obtain resistance to chilling and frost
damage by insulation. E.g. the internal
temperature of rosette plant is 20 °c higher as
compared to outer temperature.
ECOLOGICAL CLASSES OF PLANTS
BASED ON TEMPERATURE

 Raunkiaer divided the gross vegetation into

following groups :
1. Megathrms:The plants that live in warm
habitats – found in tropical areas and desert
etc.
2. Mesotherms: These are found in tropical and
sub tropical and can with stand intermediate
temp.
CONT.
3. Microtherms: The plants that require low
temperature for their growth are called
microtherms – found in tropical and sub
tropical at high elevations.
4. Hekistotherms :These are plants of cold and
alpine regions .they can with stand very long
and severe winters.
The wind
Factor
WIND

 Air in motion is called wind.

 It is important factor on flat plains , along sea
coasts, at high altitude in mountains.
 It affects plants directly by increasing
transpiration, by delivering heat to relatively cool
leaves, by causing various kinds of mechanical
damage, and by scattering pollens and disprsal of
seeds and fruits.
EFFECTS OF WIND ON PLANTS
 Carbon dioxide replenishment:
 Wind removes bound layer of still air that covers
the surface of shoot preventing the diffusion of
O2 from stomata and carbon dioxide towards
stomata.
1. Cooling:
 The bounded layer accumulates heat by
conduction over epidermis .wind thins this
layer, cause cooling of leaves.
CONT.
2. Desiccation:
 Air in motion causes evaporation rapidly thus
increasing rate of transpiration. This results in
desiccation because of removal of water from the
tissues killing the leaves and twigs.
3. Dwarfing:
 Turgidity helps the maturing cells of plant to
normal sizes. The plant develop under influence
of drying winds never attain turgidity. As result
all organs are dwarfed.
CONT.
4. Deformation:
 When developing shoots are subjected to strong
wind pressure from a constant direction , the
form and the position of shoot may become
permanently altered. This is called deformation.
Trees with inclined trunks are observed on
ridges.
5. Lodging:
 It is a form of injury caused by violent wind in
which crop plants flattened against the ground.
 But if stem is not mature ,plant become partially
erect once.
CONT.
6. Breakage:
 Wind promote breakage in plants.

 Trees with soft and brittle wood are more

susceptible to breakage. High wind uproot the
trees.
 Single or group of trees which are uprooted in a
forest are termed as wind falls or wind
throws.
CONT.
7. Abrasion:
 Wind carrying particles of ice or soil is very
potent abrasive force. Bark and buds may
be eroded away .Crops grown on sandy soil
are often damaged in this way.
8. Wind pollination (Anemophily):
 In cool and cold climates the vast majority
of trees , shrubs and herbs are wind
pollinated.
CONT.
9. wind dispersal (Anemochory):
 Wind is efficient dispersal agent and most
terrestrial plant depend on it to scatter their
disseminules ( seeds and fruits). The fruits and
seeds have developed certain adaptations for
wind dispersal such as smaller size and
reduced weight , production of wings and hairs
so that they carry by wind easily.
CONT.
 Seeds and fruits of certain plants have developed
specialized ‘mechanism such as tumbling, catapult
mechanism etc’ are dispersed by wind.
ANEMOMETER
 Wind is measured by anemometer.
 Robinson anemometer.

 It consist of three or four arms –arms fixed to

vertical shaft operates gears motivating a dial.
 Average velocities can be taken .

 This provide a much more useful index of

velocities.