Physiological mechanism of environment-friendly plants

Sir Malik: students, today we are going to discuss some physiological mechanisms that are present in plants to survive against different environmental conditions and all of these mechanisms are environment friendly.

Students: sir, what is meant by environment-friendly mechanisms?

Sir Malik: anything that is not damaging the environment or nature can be said to environmental friends because they have no harmful effect on the environment. As we know that plants are environmental lovers because the presence of plants makes a good and healthy ecosystem.

But the costs for survival in nature are very expensive and today we are going to discuss some of these mechanisms that are present in plants to survive in the environment and make plants a good friend of nature or the environment.

So, do you have any idea what we are going to discuss in today’s lecture?

Students: sir, it may be a relationship between plants and nature. And some important mechanisms of plants to survive in the environment.

Sir Malik: good! As we know that plants are part of our beautiful nature. We can say that plants are very important member of nature and nature always examine its members as a teacher do in the examination hall. Without plants, no life (human life) can exist on Earth.

The first thing that plants have to survive in the environment is to overcome drought stress. As we know that water is very important for plants to make their food through the process of photosynthesis.

Drought stress is the condition of shortage of water or very less water available for plants to live. This kind of condition can be seen mostly in the plants that live in deserts. We can be called these plants Xerophytes.

Xerophytic plants have a very well-developed physiological mechanism to overcome this deficiency of water. For example, they have a very less number of leaves and in some plants, the leaves size are very small. The stomatal openings are present on the lower side of the leaves mostly. Some species of xerophytic plants can do photosynthesis through their stem also (like cacti). As the stem is a harder structure than leaves, so it helps to prevent water loss. Xerophytic plants also have a deep root system to take water from the soil.

All of these physiological characteristics of xerophytic plants help to survive in areas where a shortage of water (drought stress) is a very common problem and these mechanisms of xerophytic plants never harm the environment in any way. So, all of these physiological mechanisms can be said as environmentally friendly.

Do you get my points and have a clear idea about environmentally friendly physiological mechanisms (Sir Malik asked his students)?

Students: yes sir, we got your points.

Sir Malik: now, what are the physical mechanisms present in hydrophytes to survive in the area of excess water?

Students: most of the hydrophytes have large-sized leaves and their roots are not able to penetrate the soil so deep because there is no need for it. These are the physical mechanisms that are present in hydrophytes and these mechanisms also do not harm the environment.

Sir Malik: good! Now as we know that roots of plants prevent soil erosion which is also an environmentally friendly habit. Photosynthesis in plants adds oxygen to the environment which is also very important for maintaining life on Earth.

However, the process of photosynthesis is a redox chemical reaction but many physiological apparatus of plants like leaves, roots, and stems play important roles in building a healthy environment.

Plants also play an important role in the completion of the water cycle because they take water from the depth of the soil and transpire it into the atmosphere through their leaves. The habit of providing shelter to many animals and birds also indicates that plants are the real friends of nature.

In short, plants as a whole are environment lovers and the presence of plants in any ecosystem or environment plays a very important role to establish a healthy ecosystem.

So, can you explain some of the physiological characteristics of plants that are environment-friendly characters?

Students: sir, plants can prevent soil erosion with the help of their roots and it is one of the functions that performs by plants in nature. As you told this earlier, the roots of the plants are very important in the maintenance of soil. The area with optimum numbers of plants has healthy and strong soil as compared to those areas which are affected by deforestation. The strength of soil can be observed easily in the case of storms and floods.

Plants also have a close relationship with biodiversity. Many animals and birds are very dependent on plant’s existence and one of the biggest reasons for the extinction of many species is deforestation because of loss of habitat or home.

Sir Malik: good from all of you. As we discussed that plants are very environment friendly and they have a number of physiological mechanisms that perform a number of functions that are very important for our nature. It's our duty to avoid deforestation and encourage afforestation to build a healthy environment.