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PLANT ECOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY

Presentor: rachell b. sollano

Plant

Ecology- is the branch of botany which deals with the effects of environmental factors upon plant growth and distribution, and conversely, with the effects of plants upon the earth, air, water, and other organisms. Plant geography- deals with the geographical distribution of various types of plants upon the earths surface.

Autecology-

is concerned with the individual organism and its relation to its environment. Synecology- is concerned wiyh the total complex of interrelations between organisms and between them and their environment.

Environmental factors which influence the growth and distribution of plants are: Climatic Factors (Factors of the Atmosphere). TEMPERATURE. Temperature influences the rate at which the physiological activities of plants occur and thus influences plant growth and distribution.

LIGHT. Light influences plant growth through its effects on photosynthesis , transpiration, direction of growth, heating effect, flower production, enzyme action, etc.

Carbon

Dioxide Concentration. It is the limiting factor in photosynthesis and thus changes in it affect the rate of photosynthesis. Excess CO2 often inhibits growth. Other Atmospheric Gases. Gases from smelters, furnaces, etc., are often injuries to vegetation.

Wind.

Affects transpiration and also exerts mechanical effect upon direction of growth, form of plant, etc. Atmospheric Humidity And Precipitation. Water vapor content of air, rain, snow, etc., are factors influencing plant growth and distribution.

Edaphic Factors (Soil Factors). Available Soil Water. One of the most important edaphic factors. Plants are often classified on the basis of their adaptation to water supply as follows: Hydrophytes- plants which inhabit water or wet soil: cattails, water lilies, pond weeds, etc. Usually weak-stemmed, with numerous air spaces, often very fine, thin leaves, and little or no cutin.

Xerophytes-plants

which inhabit arid or semi-arid regions: cacti, sagebrush, Russian thistle, etc. Leaves absent or much reduced in size, usually with heavy layers of cutin, well-developed water-storage tissues, stomata often reduced in number and sunken in pits, etc.

Mesophytes-plants

inhabiting regions with moderate water supply: common field and forest plants, such as roses, elms, maples, trillium, blue grass, violets, oaks, etc.

Halophytes-plants which inhabits soil with high salt content and which can absorb water only with difficulty, because of high solute concentration of soil solution. Halophytes often resemble xerophytes structurally because of difficulty of absorbing water: salt bush, greasewood, etc.

Soil

Temperature. Affects rate of root growth, respiration, water absorption, etc. Air in the Soil. Roots normally require oxygen for respiration and thus a deficiency of air affects root growth. Water logged soil have little air and plants growing in such oils are usually badly stunted.

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL

NATURE OF SOIL. Acidity or alkalinity of soil influence rate of absorption, nature of materials absorbed, and other activities of roots. Presence or absence of essential mineral elements influences rate of food synthesis and other anabolic processes in plants, etc. Physico-electrical properties of soil particles affect absorption, drainage, etc.

Biotic Factors (Effect of Other Living Organisms). GRAZING BY ANIMALS. Grazing removes food-making organs causes stunting of growth, etc. Also, mechanical effect of trampling.

SOIL

ORGANISMS. Bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, worms in soil are important agents in increasing or decreasing soil fertility, in altering physical properties of soils, in attacking roots of higher plants, etc.

INSECTS. Insect which eat or otherwise injure plants or their parts or which function in pollination are important in growth, seed production, etc. PARASITIC FUNGI. Diseaseproducing fungi mat stunt growth, form abnormal growths, and generally decrease populations of susceptible plants, often to the point of extinction in certain regions.

COMPETITION. Struggle among various species of plants for water, soil salts, light, air, etc., influences distribution of plants. SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS. Certain plants may cooperate for mutual benefit, as, algae and fungi in lichens, nodule bacteria on legume roots, etc.

Plant

Communities - group of plants which live together under the same set of environmental conditions. Types of plant association: pond communities xerophytic communities Mesophytic communities Swamp communities

Succession is a series of changes in the plants of a given region as a result of disturbances in climatic, biotic, or topographic factors. Pioneer community- the first community which becomes established. Intermediate communities- which as a result of the activities of the pioneer organisms are better adjusted to the newer environmental factors than the pioneer communities.
Plant

Climax

community- the highest type which can be supported by the obtaining set of external factors and the type which tends to perpetuate itself year after year under similar conditions and does not render the environment unsuitable for its own offspring. Plant Invasion- is the tendency for a species or an association of species to extend its regions of occupancy and thus to invade new areas.

Plant geography- deals with the geographical distribution of various types of plants upon the earths surface. Important factors in geographical distribution: Barriers- which prevent or discourage the migration of certain plant species. Highways- which facilitate the migration of species.

Plant geographical areas of North America will be treated, as follows: Tundra- occupies the northern edges of North America, from Alaska to Labrador. characteristic plants: lichens sedges mosses other herbs grasses a few shrubs

Northern Evergreen Forest- across continent from Pacific to Atlantic, south from tundra to Vermont, Great Lakes, and thence northwest through Canada and Alaska. Characteristic plants: chiefly conifers, (such as black spruce, white spruce, hemlock, white pine, jack pine, balsam fir, etc. Decidous trees, (such as aspens and birches, chiefly in cut or burned areas)

Coastal

plain region, from Virginia to Texas, except Southern Florida. Characteristic plants: live oak Bald cypress Long- leaf pine Magnolia Gums Some short- leaf pine

Southern Florida, Central America, West Indies, Mexican coasts, etc. Characteristic plants: Lianas(woody climbers) Palms Orchids mangroves

Texas to Manitoba, northwest into Canada, and west to the Rocky Mts. across Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, etc. Characteristics plats: many species of grasses Asters Golden rods sunflowers

South from western Idaho and eastern Oregon through most of the region (The Great Basin) between the mountain of Colorado and Wyoming to the Sierra Nevadas of California and south Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Northern Mexico and Lower California.

Southward

from southeast Alaska and northwest Canada through Idaho, Montana, and the regions lying between the Grasslands and the Great Basin, extending south through the mountains of New Mexico into Mexico.

The

slopes of the coastal mountains, from southern Alaska into southern California. Characteristic plants: Sitka spruce, western hemlock, Douglas fie, western white pine, redwoods, western white cedar, arbor vitae, western yellow pine.

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