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I'm En Qi.
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Monday, August 23, 2010
HELLO! :)
How do desert plants survive? First, let's look at what deserts are in the first place. So what are deserts? People often have this stereotype that deserts are the hottest places on earth filled with nothing but sand, cacti and camels. Although there is some truth to that, the definition of a desert is 'a region so arid because of little rainfall that it supports only sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all' (taken from dictionary.com).
So we know that a desert has so little rainfall (very dry) that there is sparse vegetation or no vegetation at all, which means that there are very little plants there. Which means, there ARE plants surviving in the desert. But how?
Which brings us back to the title! How do desert plants survive (in the desert)?
Let's look at the conditions the plants must survive in. To survive in deserts, plants must be able to withstand high temperatures and long droughts. They must be able to survive with very little water (because deserts receive very little rainfall).
Living with drought
All desert plants face the same problem, which is drought. There are 2 ways they solve this problem:
1. They appear only when there is rain. For example, ephemerals appear only when there is rain, the rest of the time they lie dormant as hardy seeds.
2. Some plants have different features to avoid drying out. For example, the saguaro cactus grows really slowly and can store huge amounts of water. It has a root system too which spreads widely under the surface.
Other adaptations
1. The creosote bush in North America can survive a year without water.
2. Some plants, such as the ocotillo (or coach whip), shed their leaves during droughts, then regrow them after rain.
3. Plants called succulents are very fleshy and can store huge amounts of water. They often have waxy surfaces to reduce water loss, or hair that reflect sunlight and act as insulation. Others close their stomata in the day. Some have an unpleasant taste so that animals will not eat them, as well as sharp spines.
Hope you understand more about desert plants! :)
BYE!
En Qi.
Sources:
Information from Our World: Deserts by Keith Lye
Images from Google
Video from Youtube
How do desert plants survive? First, let's look at what deserts are in the first place. So what are deserts? People often have this stereotype that deserts are the hottest places on earth filled with nothing but sand, cacti and camels. Although there is some truth to that, the definition of a desert is 'a region so arid because of little rainfall that it supports only sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all' (taken from dictionary.com).
So we know that a desert has so little rainfall (very dry) that there is sparse vegetation or no vegetation at all, which means that there are very little plants there. Which means, there ARE plants surviving in the desert. But how?
Which brings us back to the title! How do desert plants survive (in the desert)?
Let's look at the conditions the plants must survive in. To survive in deserts, plants must be able to withstand high temperatures and long droughts. They must be able to survive with very little water (because deserts receive very little rainfall).
Living with drought
All desert plants face the same problem, which is drought. There are 2 ways they solve this problem:
1. They appear only when there is rain. For example, ephemerals appear only when there is rain, the rest of the time they lie dormant as hardy seeds.
2. Some plants have different features to avoid drying out. For example, the saguaro cactus grows really slowly and can store huge amounts of water. It has a root system too which spreads widely under the surface.
Other adaptations
1. The creosote bush in North America can survive a year without water.
2. Some plants, such as the ocotillo (or coach whip), shed their leaves during droughts, then regrow them after rain.
3. Plants called succulents are very fleshy and can store huge amounts of water. They often have waxy surfaces to reduce water loss, or hair that reflect sunlight and act as insulation. Others close their stomata in the day. Some have an unpleasant taste so that animals will not eat them, as well as sharp spines.
Hope you understand more about desert plants! :)
BYE!
En Qi.
Sources:
Information from Our World: Deserts by Keith Lye
Images from Google
Video from Youtube
♥ 9:08 PM