Adaptation of Plants from the Aquatic Environment
Adjustment refers to the characteristics that improve the ability of an organism to survive in a different environment. The genetically determined characteristics may be behavioural, physiological, or morphological to allow an organism to develop the ability to survive in a particular environment. The adaptation process involves the acquisition of traits that improves the survival rate in a different environment that may be considered as not very suitable for the survival of a specific organism. Adaptations played a significant role in allowing plants to move from the aquatic environments into other habitats. The adjustments of the plants help in ensuring that the aquatic plants develop characteristics that make it easier for them to survive in other habitats, such as in the dry land (Bidau, 2014). Majority of the modern plants have evolved and adapted different habitats; thus, the reason why most of the plants that initially survived on the aquatic habitat can survive in other habitats.
The adaptation of plants from the aquatic environment to survive in other habitats is attributed to a wide range of factors that create the need for the plants to survive in other habitats. The first important aspect that allows plants to adapt to different habitats is evolution, which is a factor that contributes to the development of characteristics that enables survival. According to Leimu & Fischer (2008), plants evolution is a significant factor that may help to analyze how plants moved from their original habitats and how they survive in different habitats. Another vital aspect that contributes to plants adaptation involves the environmental factors that create the need for the plants to survive in other habitats. The environmental factors such as dried water bodies create the urgency for the aquatic plants to develop adaptive characteristics that may help to survive in the dry land.
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Single-Celled Algae
Understanding the adaptations of plants requires to have a proper analysis of the origin of plants and the evolution that has taken place to form the kinds of plants that are present in the modern world. The single-celled algae are plant-like autotrophs that are green as they contain chlorophyll. According to Bidau (2014), plants have not always been on the land, considering that they were confined in the aquatic environments. The evolution of the first plant was from the single-celled algae, which resulted in the development of characteristics that enabled the plants to survive in other habitats. Considering that the single-celled algae are an organism that survived in the aquatic environment. The evolution created the need for developing different characteristics to help in surviving outside the marine environment. The single-celled algae are considered as the ancestor plants and the foundation of all plant’s evolution and adaptations.
The transition from Prokaryotes to Eukaryotes
The evolution of the single-celled algae has contributed to the transitions from the prokaryotes to eukaryotes, which is the basis for plant evolution. Prokaryotes refer to organisms that do not contain a distinct nucleus and have no membrane and include the bacteria and the archaea. On the other hand, the eukaryotes refer to organisms that have an enclosed nucleus within the membranes. As part of evolution, the prokaryotes develop distinct characteristics that help in to enhance their adaptability into other habitats. The eukaryotes tend to be more complicated that the prokaryotes, which is an indicator of the development of adaptive characteristics that help in enhancing the survival of the organisms. Based on their distinct features, the eukaryotes have the ability to boost their individual “power plants” known as the mitochondria. The transition process from the prokaryotes to eukaryotes is the foundation of adaptation of the plants from the aquatic environment into other habitats.
Natural Selection
Natural selection refers to the process where the organism tends to adapt to their environment for better survival. The natural selection theory, which was developed by Charles Darwin maintains that natural selection is an engine that drives the evolution of the organism to adapt to different habitats. Through natural selection, the aquatic plants tend to evolve and develop different characteristics that allow them to survive in other habitats. The environmental factors such as drying of the water bodies result in a situation where the plants are required to make adaptations through the development of distinct features and characteristics (Shearer, C. A., Descals, E., Kohlmeyer, Kohlmeyer, Marvanová, Padgett, & Voglymayr, 2007). Although the natural selection process in plants is somewhat complicated, considering the nature of the plants, the process remains to be significant and ensures that the plants develop adaptive characteristics.
Aquatic Plants that have Adapted to other Habitats
There are different aquatic plants that have developed the ability to survive in other habitats, which is a factor that is enhanced through the development of different traits that are adaptive to different environments. The first observed plant is the Bald Cypress, which is referred to as Taxodium Distichum . The plant, which normally grows in swampy areas have the ability to grow in the dry land considering the development of different traits that enhances survival. The traits developed to adapt in different habitats include the development of roots that enables the plant to obtain water and nutrients from the soil, thus the ability to survive on the dry land. The second observed plant is the White Mangrove, which is also known as the Laguncularia Racemose . The aquatic plant has evolved to survive in the dry land and has developed different traits that enhance survival. The White Mangrove growing in the land has distinct features and characteristics such as long roots that help in keeping the plant health by ensuring that minerals and water are obtained from the soil.
The traits developed by the aquatic plants to enable them to survive in on the drylands are adaptive to ensure that the plants have the ability to obtain minerals and water. The conventional adaptive trait for the aquatic plants to survive in dryland involves the development of roots with the ability to get deeper in the soil to obtain minerals and water. The second adaptive trait that is observed within the given plants involves modified leaves that have the ability to retain water during the dry times to allow the plant to be in a position to survive on dry land. Another adaptive trait for the plants involves developing the distinct features that help to retain water and prevent excessive water loss through. The plants tend to develop a thick cuticle, which enables the plant to survive out of the aquatic environment by reducing water loss during transpiration. The adaptive traits develop to ensure that the plants have the ability to survive in different habitats considering that the marine environment may be different from other environments such as in the dry land.
References
Bidau, C. J. (2014). Patterns in Orthoptera biodiversity. I. Adaptations in ecological and evolutionary contexts. Journal of Insect Biodiversity , 2 (20), 1-39.
Leimu, R., & Fischer, M. (2008). A meta-analysis of local adaptation in plants. PloS one , 3 (12), e4010.
Shearer, C. A., Decals, E., Kohlmeyer, B., Kohlmeyer, J., Marvanová, L., Padgett, D., ... & Voglymayr, H. (2007). Fungal biodiversity in aquatic habitats. Biodiversity and Conservation , 16 (1), 49-67.
