Biology Tutorials > Freshwater Ecology > Still Water Community Plants

Still Water Community Plants

Still Water Community Plants

Water hyacinth blooming in the lake

Freshwater Plants & Water

As mentioned in the previous tutorial about still water plants, the method of transpiration as a whole is altered in freshwater plants, due to the abundance of water in their external environment, or in the case of some, uptake of water from a wet environment, but the loss of water via their leaves in the open-air environment.

An example of transpiration problems for such plants is as follows:

  • The plant lives in a marshy environment, where roots take up water from the soaked ground, allowing plenty of water to be taken up and transported up and across the plant.
  • The difference in water concentration between the plants’ leaves and the open-air environment is so great that much of the water absorbed is lost to the external environment, meaning the plant loses water rapidly
  • Such a problem is solved by evolutionary adaptations that essentially address the issue of re-balancing the critical deviations between the water that is absorbed and lost in a plant.

Freshwater Plants & Nutrients

On top of the need for plants to maintain a suitable water concentration in plant cells, they also require various nutrients that are found in the nutrient-rich soil and the surrounding waters. In addition to the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen required for photosynthesis, plants require a range of macro-elements, notably magnesium (Mg), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Some of these elements, notably the gases, are readily available in the atmosphere, while carbon dioxide is produced from decomposing organic matter. Other elements are readily available in the soil, with nutrients becoming available from a decomposing matter adding to the fertility of the surrounding soil. Oxygen becomes available from the photosynthetic activities of plants, which provide the link between oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations in the area.

The availability of such elements will affect the productivity of the plants in the freshwater ecosystem and the combined productivity of the ecosystem as a whole. Evidently, the environmental factors of the freshwater ecosystem have a great bearing on how plants survive in the community. The following tutorial introduces flowing water communities, which bring new and dithering factors into the equation for possible species occupying the area.

 

Credit: It’s AumSum Time

Quiz

Choose the best answer.

1. The part of the plant that takes up water from the ground

2. Much of the water absorbed is lost to the external environment, meaning there is a rapid water _____________ .

3. Source of oxygen

4. Required by plants

5. Required for photosynthesis

Send Your Results (Optional)

Your Name
To Email
Biology Tutorials > Freshwater Ecology > Still Water Community Plants

You will also like...

Freshwater lake ecosystem
Freshwater Producers and Consumers

Freshwater ecosystem is comprised of four major constituents, namely elements and compounds, plants, consumers, and deco..

Schematic diagram of bacterial lactose operon
Gene Action – Operon Hypothesis

Learn how the way genes control and determine every aspect of the body. This lesson uses lac operon as an example. ..

..

Direct and indirect physiologic effects of growth hormone
Animal Growth Hormones

Hormones are produced in the endocrine glands of animals. The pituitary gland and hypothalamus are the most impor..

Crossing Over and Genetic Diversity
Inheritance and Probability

Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, is most famous in this field for his study of the phenotype of pea plants, including ..

Freshwater aquatic plankton
Freshwater Communities & Plankton

Planktons are microscopic organisms that live suspended in aquatic habitats. There are two groups: the phytoplanktons an..

Water Cycle
The Water Cycle

The water cycle (also referred to as the hydrological cycle) is a system of continuous transfer of water from the air, s..