Adapting to terrestrial living Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adapting to terrestrial living - Essay Example Adaptations to tackle this problem include animal like skeletons and specialized plant cells and tissues which support the plant. A transition from aquatic to terrestrial life also meant a competitive struggle for sunlight; as a result plants had to be tall, which also necessitated strong stems and an extensive root system to anchor the plants firmly in the ground while they grew upwards towards the sunlight (www.countrysideinfo.co.uk) and this is turn led to the development of trees. Another requirement for air based living as opposed to aquatic life is the need to conserve water, because a plant may face constraints in obtaining an adequate supply of water from the soil. As a result, they have developed a cuticle or protective layer on the surface of leaves to prevent excessive loss of water by transpiration (www.countrysideinfo.co.uk). At the same time however, plants must also be able to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to carry on the process of photosynthesis and give out carbon dioxide. This objective had to be achieved without sacrificing the modes for preservation of water through the use of the cuticle. The adaptations made in plants to specifically cater to this requirement are stomata on the underside of the leaf, which allow the exchange of gases to take place without excessive loss of water from the surface of the leaf. For example, in drought prone areas, plant leaves are reduced to spines, so that the leaf surface from which loss of water can take place is considerably reduced. Plant species growing in drought ridden areas may demonstrate high levels of stomatal conductance, photosynthesis and photosynthesis during periods when water is available, but enter into periods of dormancy and lose their leaves during a period of intense heat (Lambers et al, 2008) Plants have evolved from simple unicellular organisms into complex multi cellular ones. A unicellular organism