plant adaptation to aquatic environment

Adaptation of plants to aquatic environment

1. Plant adaptation to aquatic Environment Student name: Afsana Chowdhury Student id: 20585101

2. What is Aquatic Plants? Adapted to growing in or under water (salt or fresh water) Hydrophytes or macrophytes. Serve an important job : Provide food and oxygen for aquatic ecosystem. Needs special adaptive features to exchange gases, reproduce, and for maintaining salt and water balance.

3. What aquatic plants need to survive? Sunlight - Use sunlight energy to carry out photosynthesis Water and minerals – Need for growth. Gas exchange - Oxygen required for Supporting cellular respiration and Carrying for photosynthesis. Movement of water and mineral - Absorb water and mineral through their roots but prepare food in leaves. - Have to have specialized tissues for carrying water to the leaves and distributed prepared food to other part of the body.  

4. How Aquatic Plants Produce Energy ? Needs oxygen to produce energy. Make their own food through process of photosynthesis. Have chlorophyll that is needed for photosynthesis. In the day light, plants use sun energy, water and to make their own food. Plants release oxygen into the water and aquatic animal use the oxygen to breathe.  

5. Aerenchyma tissue photosynthesis activity can be curtailed at the cloudy days or at murky water and turbidity. Evolved some strategies to solve these problems. Aerenchyma tissue Spongy network of cell. Creates air space in plant. That air space act like a tunnel which allowing plants in transporting oxygen from the surface to other parts of the plants .

6. Buoyancy ( how plants float?) Aerenchyma tissue also help in the Buoyancy. The amount of gas in plant stem and leaves act like flotation device Give them structure and support with the absence of tough bark or wood like the terrestrial plants

7. Types of Aquatic plants 3 types Submerged plants Floating plants -Free floating plants - Fixed aquatic plants Emergent plants Fig: Types of aquatic plants

8. Submerged plants They are completely submerged in water The highly dissected leaf of plants help for photosynthesis by creating notable surface area. Presence of no stomata in the leaves. Roots act like an anchor. - main role is to absorb nutrient from water. Example: Hydrilla, Pondweed Fig : Hydrilla Fig: Pondweed

9. Floating Plants Fibrous root system Some floating plants Roots are fixed to the bottom and some are not. Photosynthesis is performed on the floating leaves. They are light in weight and spongy. Example: Water hyacinth, Duckweed. Fig: Water hyacinth Fig : Duckweed

10. Free floating plants Roots are not connected to the sediments. Floats freely on the water surface. Leaves and stem has air-filled cavities Cavities - Make them light in weight -Help them to float in water Example: Water lettuce, water hyacinth, Duckweed. Fig : Water lettuce

11. Fixed aquatic plants Plants, which root is connected to the sediment. Stem with holes Leaves are broad Waxy coating on leaves prevent rotting Example : Lotus and waterlily Fig: Water lily

12. Emergent Plants Their basal portion remains under the surface of the water, but stem and leaves can be seen in the air. Narrow leaves, tall in height The hollow structure and presence of hard fibers in the stem help the plants surviving in winds Example: Reed, Wild rice etc. Fig : Reed plants Fig: Wild rice plants

13. At the end.. Aquatic plants increases oxygen content of water and remove from it, making the water suitable for fish and other aquatic animals and help them to get enough oxygen.  

14. References Beentje , Henk; Hickey, Michael; King, Clive (2001). "The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms". Kew Bulletin. 56 (2): 505. doi:10.2307/4110976. Chambers, Patricia A. (September 1987). “Light and Nutrients in the control of aquatic plant Community Structure. II. Insitu observations”. The journal of Ecology. 75(3): 621-628. Doi:10.2307/2260194. JSTOR 2260194. Pedersen, Ole; Colmer , Timothy David; Sand-Jensen, Kaj (2013). "Underwater Photosynthesis of Submerged Plants–Recent Advances and Methods". Frontiers in Plant Science. doi:10.3389/fpls.2013.00140. Shtein , Ilana; Popper, Zoë A.; Harpaz -Saad, Smadar (2017). "Permanently open stomata of aquatic angiosperms display modified cellulose crystallinity patterns". Plant Signaling & Behavior. 12 (7): e1339858. doi:10.1080/15592324.2017.1339858. Vymazal , Jan (December 2013). "Emergent plants used in free water surface constructed wetlands: A review". Ecological Engineering. 61: 582–592

15. That’s all…..