What do plants need to survive?
• sunlight
• carbon dioxide
• water
• the right temperature
• protection
• to reproduce
As a quick review from our previous
lessons, you should remember:
What part of the plant absorbs
carbon dioxide?
What part of the plant absorbs water?
What part of the plant is involved in
reproduction?
Carbon dioxide is generally available to
most plants from the air surrounding them.
Sunshine is also generally available but in
some cases plants have actively seek it:
Plants that live in dense forests do have
to compete for light.
Noting that most plants grow towards the
light, consider the these cases:
A gene is the
fundamental,
physical, and
functional unit
of heredity.
Many trees in
the forests
grow very tall to
get to the
sunlight.
Some rainforest
plants climb on
others to reach the
sunlight.
Plants that live on the forest floor are adapted
to live in the shade and require less sunlight.
To protect themselves, plants cannot run away
from animals that want to eat them, such as
deer, goats, bears, insects, and rabbits. But
many plants do have ways to protect
themselves.
Some plants taste
bitter.
Some plants have
thorns on their leaves
or stems.
Some plants are poisonous and cause a
rash on an animal’s skin. You may be
familiar with the rash caused by poison
ivy.
A plant gets water through its roots and
loses water through its leaves .
Many of a plant’s
adaptations have
to do with getting
and retaining
water.
Plants in
deserts either
have 1) long
roots that
spread out
wide and
absorb a lot of
water when it
does rain or
2) roots that
grow deep into
the ground.
Desert plants
often store
water in their
stems or leaves.
Cactuses have
stems but no
leaves.
Waxy
coating on
the leaves
or stems
reduce
loss of
water.
Hair or spines
help shade the
plant so it does
not lose so much
water.
Deep root
system or
Grasslands
Roots of
grassland/prairie
grasses extend deep
into the ground to
absorb as much
moisture as they
can.
Grassland/
prairie
grasses
have
narrow
leaves
which lose
less water
than broad
leaves.
Tropical rainforest trees have shallow
roots because the soil is so thin.
Buttresses and stilt roots help prop up
plants in the shallow soil.
Epiphytic orchids have
aerial roots that cling
to the host plant.
They absorb minerals,
and water from the
atmosphere.
The thin, broad, light-weight leaves of the
deciduous trees can capture a lot of sunlight to
make a lot of food for the tree in warm weather.
When the weather gets cooler, the broad leaves
cause too much water loss and can be weighed
down by snow, so the tree drops its
leaves. New ones will grow in the spring.
Succession is the change in the
composition of an ecosystem over time.
•Volcanic Eruptions: After a volcanic eruption, the
lava cools and hardens into rock. Pioneer species
like lichens begin growing on this rock, initiating the
process of succession.
•Retreating Glaciers: When glaciers retreat, they
leave behind bare rock surfaces. Lichens and
mosses colonize these surfaces, kick starting the
succession process.
•Newly Formed Sand Dunes: Wind forms new sand
dunes in coastal areas.
Mangrove Tree
Mangrove Tree
Mangrove roots hold
together all the sediments
which get accumulated all
around the trees. This
accumulation forms the
ground which is suitable
for tree growing. In this
way, mangrove roots
protect trees and they even
help forests expand further.
