Adaptations Flashcards
What did earth look like 450 million years ago?
No plants, lots of water
What did plants evolve from?
Green algae (most diverse with over 7000+ species)
Challenges of plants moving to land?
- Obtaining Resources
- maintaining moisture (since algae absorbs water and lives in a aqueous enviornment)
- Staying Upright (hard for algae to stay upright when it is not in water)
- Reproduction (water surrounding algae made it easy for male sperm to reach the female eggs. without water, they dry out)
Did the earliest plants have roots?
NO, they had rhizoids.
What are some adaptations of land plants?
- Plant body is now able to obtain resources, maintaining moisture, and staying upright.
What is Mycorrhizae?
A mutualistic and symbiotic relationship between fungus and plants.
What does fungus provide?
water and nutrients
What does plants provide?
Provides sugars
What are some leaf functions?
- Photosynthesize (harvest sunlight, capture CO2)
- Minimize water loss (moisture is lost when taking in CO2)
- Transport water and sugar (via leaf veins). Pulls water up through the roots
- Adapt to enviornments (in nutrient poor enviornments, many plants adapt to carnivory).
Stem Adaptations: Support
This is where wood comes from. Wood presents stems and roots. Also ensures that the plant is being kept upright.
What are the three major functions of roots?
- Anchor the plant in place
- Absorb water and minerals
- Produce hormones
What do plants develop from?
Embryo (an immature plant body)
Diploid?
has both sets of chromosomes
Haploid?
has one set of chromosomes
Gametes?
are reproductive sex cells (either sperm or eggs)