Angiosperm is the most successful plant in the exploitation of many terrestrial habitats.

Based on the many adaptation strategies, discus how they adapt to various environments.

Angiosperm abundant in various types of environments. The angiosperm can leaves in

water, terrestrial, tundra and in most environment. These entire environments have their distinct
features. For examples, mangrove area contains very salty water. In this condition, if the plant
does not have any adaptation will died. This is because the salty water act as the hypertonic
solution to the sap cell of the plant. Therefore, the plant must have special adaptation in order to
survive in that habitat.

The unique characteristic of angiosperms in reproduction way is one of its adaptation to

various terrestrial habitat. The reproductive organ of angiosperms are flowers. Angiosperms
reproduce by double fertilization. Double fertilization will lead to the formation of the
endosperm that is the nutritive tissue within the seeds that feeds the developing embryo
furthermore the angiosperms' ovary are protected by petal of the flower. This will give more
advantage for embryo of angiosperms to survive. Besides, the flower consist of both female and
male organ that located near to each other. Since angiosperms flower have characteristics such as
attractive color of petal and odor it will lead to the pollination with the help of pollinators. This
will result to more succeed survival of angiosperms any habitat.

In terrestrial habitat, the adaptation strategies made by angiosperms are the stems of
angiosperm consist of thick bark. The thick function to limit the evaporation from the tree’s
trunk. So, this will reduce the rate of water loss or rate of transpiration. Since this is not a
concern in the high humidity of tropical rainforests, most trees have a thin, smooth bark. The
smooth characteristic resulting the other plant difficult to grow on their surface.

Some plant for example, Lianas, the climbing woody veins that drape rainforest trees.
Lianas adapted to life in rainforest by having their roots in the ground and climbing high into the
tree canopy to reach available sunlight. Many lianas start life in the rainforest canopy and send
roots down to the ground.

Many tropical forest leaves have a drip trip. This kind of leaves have adapted to cope
with exceptionally high rainforest. It is thought that these drip tips enable rain drops to run off
quickly. This is because, plant need to shed water to avoid growth of fungus and bacteria in the
warm, wet tropical rainforest. Tropical forest have the greatest extends and diversity of any
terrestrial biome because they have remained undisturbed far longer than forest at higher
latitudes and have an almost continuous growing season. A critical limiting factor for growth in
the tropical forest is light because for the age of tree crowns is so thick and growth of vines and
other plants at many levels is so prolific, the light near to and on the forest floor is dim, with
sunlight rarely shining through. Therefore many plant adaptation minimizing the effect of the
lack of light. In the lower layers of a tropical forest, plants must be efficient for light trappers to
undergo photosynthesis. Plants in the under stories have large thin leaves, which present the
maximum surface for light reception and there is evidence that their photosynthetic pigments are
particularly efficient in trapping light.

Vines are another adaptation for living in the upper layers of the tropical forest. They
climb trees by coiling around a trunk or sending tendrils that give support while the main branch
grows upward. Some vines have thorn that dig into the bark of the host tree. Others like the
strangler fig, deposit seeds that germinate high on the branches, their stem-like roots grow to the
ground and eventually enclosed the supporting tree.

Some plants have buttress roots. This buttress roots provide extra stability, especially
since tropical rainforest trees are not typically as deed as those of trees in temperate zones. For
epiphytes that live on the surface of plants, especially the trunk and branches have aerial roots
that cling to the host plant, absorbed minerals and absorbed water from the atmosphere.

On tropical deltas and along ocean edges and river estuaries, trees have adapted to living
in wet, marshy conditions. These trees, called mangroves, have wide-spreading stilt roots that
support the trees in the tidal mud and trap nutritious organic matter. Mangrove trees also have
viviparity seed. This kind of seed germinate on the mother plant. Other characteristics of
mangrove plants are they capable to reduce water loss because they have succulent leaves, a kind
of leaves that covered by a waxy substance. The sap cell of mangrove plants root act as
hypotonic solution for the surrounding. This important to reduce high concentration of water in
plant out to the surrounding that have very low water concentration.

Pitcher plant vines in the Nepenthaceae family have leaves that form a pitcher and the
pitcher is complete with a lid. The pitcher contain nectar that produce or smell foul- smelling or
sweet to attract insects such as ants and flies that lose their grip on the slick sides and fall into
liquid. Inside the pitcher, there are downward-pointing hairs that function to prevent the insect’s
escape. The trapped insect will be digested by the plants they will provide nutrients. It is
important to note that pitcher plants are not epiphytes but climbers rooted in the soil.

At desert there are also succulent plants that store water in their leaves or stem to reduce
the water loss. Some plants even have no leaves or small seasonal leaves that grow after it rains.
The advantage of having less leaves helps reduce water loss during photosynthesis, while the
leafless plants conduct photosynthesis in their green stem. This type of plant also have long root
systems that spread out wide or go deep into the ground in order to absorb water. They are so
reliable as indicators of subsurface water that people long ago learn to dig wells where they go.
There also some plants that have a short life cycle that germinate in response to rain, growing,
flowering and dying all within one year. These type of plants will evade drought.

The desert is not completely without water, floods also may occur at desert when rain
comes suddenly and abundantly. As the consequences of the rain fall there are seems to spring to
life and turn into a flower garden. The moisture does not last and the plants do not long outlive
but their adaptation to drought are fascinating where some of the desert’s flowering plants have
seed containing chemicals that inhibit germination. These seed lie dormant in the desert soil for a
long time, even through periods of transient rainfall. The amount of water require to wash out the
inhibiting chemical seems nicely balance with the amount that will sustain the growth of the
plant through its short life cycle. The germination inhibitors act like moisture matters and
prevent the seed from germinating until the soil has enough water to ensure the plant’s survival.

Other plants have developed different adaptations for conserving fluids. Hair growth is
such an adaptation. The layer of hairs cools the plant, or at least prevents its temperature from
raising. It also provides volume that insulates the plant body from its surrounding, so the plant is
less influenced by the outside temperature. Usually, the hairs of dessert plants are light-colored,
whitish-gray that brighten the plants. Light colors reflect most of sun’s radiation so the plant is
heated less and losses less water.

In addition to the morphological and physiological adaptations, an additional important

adaptation of extreme desrt plants is full or partial dormancy during the dry seasons. Annual
plants are the plant that germinate with the rain’s arrival, bloom and the fruits ripen rapidly and
remain as dry and dormant seeds during dry period, which may last a year or a few years. This
phenomenon is notable along the Dead Sea shore; usually this region is dry in winter and spring
also. Every few years an above-average quantity of rain falls and millions of seeds that were
“waiting” for the rain germinate, creating beautiful carpets of flowers.

There are also plants that have leaves with hair that help shade the plant then, reducing
the water loss. Other kind of plants have leaves that turn throughout the day to expose a
minimum surface area to the heat. Other adaptation, there are plants that have spines to
discourage animals from eating plants not for food but for water. Other characteristic to reduce
water loss are some plants have waxy coating on stems and leaves. Some plants have flower that
open at light lure pollination that are more likely to be active during the cooler night. Other plant
have unique physiology that is slower growing to make sure less energy is needed for matured.

Furthermore, some prairie trees have thick bark to resist fire and prairie shrubs readily
resprout after fire. Besides that, the root of prairie grasses extend deep into the ground that
function to absorb as much moisture as they can. The extensive root systems also prevent grazing
animals from pulling roots out of the ground. For the leaves, prairie grasses have narrow leaves
which lose less water than broad leaves. To preventing permanently damaged from grazing
animals or fire, the grasses will grow from near their base, not from tip.

For the tropical rainforest plants, there are several adaptation of survival. They have drip
tips and waxy surfaces which function to allow water to run off and also to discourage growth of
bacteria and fungi. Besides that, there are buttresses, prop and stilt roots that help in holding up
plants in the shallow soil. The plants also have shallow roots to help capture nutrients from the
top level of water. The flowers on the forest floor are designed to lure animal pollinators since
there is relatively no wind on the forest floor to aid in pollination. The smooth bark and smooth
or waxy flowers helps in speed the run off water.

Many trees are deciduous (they drop their leaves in the autumn and grow new ones in
spring). Most deciduous trees have thin, broad, light-weight leaves that can capture a lot of
sunlight to make a lot of food for the tree in warm weather; when the weather gets cooler, the
broad leaves cause too much snow, so the tree drops its leaves. New ones will grow in the spring.
Furthermore, the trees have thick bark to protect against cold winters.

Many trees are evergreen so that plants can photosynthesize right away when
temperatures rise. They also have needle-like leaves that helps in reducing the loses water and
sheds snow more easily than broad leaves. The waxing coating on needle-like leaves is to
prevent evaporation. The needles are dark in color in allowing more solar heat to be absorbed.
Besides, many trees have branches that droop downward to help shed excess snow which keep
the branches from breaking.

For aquatic plants, the underwater leaves and stem are flexible to move with water
currents. Some plants have air spaces in their stems to helps hold the plant up in the water.
Submerged plants lack strong water transport system (in stem) so water, nutrients and dissolved
gases are absorbed through the leaves directly from the water. The plants have no roots and roots
hairs or reduced it because roots only needed for anchorage but not for absorption of nutrients
and water. Some plants have leaves that float on the water for exposing themselves to the
sunlight. In floating plants, chlorophyll is restricted to upper surface of leaves (part that the
sunlight will hit) and the upper surface is waxy to repel water. Besides, some plants produce
seeds that can float.

Some angiosperm reproduce asexually by mean apomixis especially the sterile hybrids.
Apomixis is one form of asexual propagation includes the production of seeds without
fertilization. For example, a cell may divide by mitosis forming an embryo. Asexual propagation
also includes other forms of vegetative reproduction. When species reproduce mainly by
apomixis but sometime also hybridize so that combinations of genes are occasionally produced,
they can be highly successful in nature. Dandelions and wild blackberries, for example, are
among the most successful plants known. They reproduce apomictically, as well as sexually
through fertilization and also by vegetative propagation.

New reproductive strategies helped angiosperms become a great success and diversify
into the forms we know today. Male and female structures develop within flowers. Many
organisms such as birds, bats and insects have coevolved to help disperse the seeds of
angiosperms. For example, a variety of insects are attracted to the scent, color and shape of the
apple blossom. The honeybee Apis mellifera is the major pollinator of apple trees. Some solitary
bees like the orchad mason bee Osmia lignaria are much more efficient at pollinating apple
blossoms and are used by many orchads. However, it is the ability to produce honey (which
humans desire) that has made Apis mellifera the primary pollinator. The honeybee eats the nectar
and collects pollen (a good protein source) to geed their larvae. As the bee visits different
flowers it becomes coated with pollen, which gets transferred to other flowers on other trees.
Although the apple blossom has both male and female parts (the apple tree is a hermaphrodite), it
is self-incompatible. Apple trees require cross-pollination. So, when the pollen of one apple
cultivar or crab apple comes into contact with a flower on a different apple cultivar, specifically
the stigma on that flower, the growth of a pollen tube is activated.

A seed is formed when the endosperm and the embryo become enveloped in a part of the
ovule that hardens into the seed coat. The ovary or other parts of the flower in angiosperms
develop into a fleshy fruit surrounding the seeds. The apple is a type of fruit called a pome. The
calyx forms a tube and the hypanthium becomes a fleshy pome surrounding the true fruit made
of five carpels each encasing 2 to 3 seeds.

The fleshy fruits of angiosperms are an adaptation for seed dispersal. Many animals use
the fruit as a food source which results in the dispersal of seeds encapsulated within a natural
fertilizer. Each seed in every apple represents a unique combination of genes brought together
through sexual reproduction. The fact that each seed is unique helps to ensure that the apple tree
can adapt to many different environments.

Furthermore, orchids have minute seeds that are often produced in prodigious numbers
(e.g., a single fruit of certain orchid species may contain up to 1 million seeds). Each seed
consists of only a few cells, and in order for a seed to germinate, it must become associated with
a specific mycorrhizal fungus that produces substances necessary for its development. Once a
seed has germinated, it may take from 6 to 12 or more years before the first flower appears.
Some orchids can be grown relatively easily on a windowsill that has bright light, but not direct
sunlight. Because orchids are among the most beautiful and prized of flowers, a large industry
has grown up around their culture and propagation. One species, the vanilla orchid is grown
commercially in the tropics for its fruits which are the source of true vanilla flavorings.
Adaptation to habitat

Not all adaptations are evident at the anatomical and morphological levels. Some are
physiological, and physiological races of plants have evolved which fit them for growth in
extreme conditions. For example, some races of Agrostis species can grow in areas of high
concentration of heavy metals (e.g. copper) where other plants fail. These adapted grasses have
been shown to accumulate and immobilize heavy metals in their roots, preventing these metals
from entering and damaging cells and organelles in other organs. The duration of life of the
plant might be a dominant feature, which helps a species to survive. Ephemeral species may
grow in normally xeric condition if they can germinate their seeds, grow, flower and fruit when
water is available. During this short period of activity, the plant may have adequate water and
would not need any other xeromorphic adaptations.

Some of the main habitats and commonly associated plant modifications where plants
that grow under very dry conditions normally show a reduction in evaporating surface area.
When leaves are developed they may be small, or have various features which would appear to
assist them in regulating or reducing potential water loss. Leafless plant, for example many
Cactaceae and most Restionaceae southern hemisphere, in low rainfall areas with mineral-poor
soils, often have subspherical or more or less cylindrical stems modified to perform the
photosynthetic and transpirational functions normally ascribed to leaves. A sphere has the
smallest surface area possible for a given volume and cylinders also have a low ratio of surface
area to volume.
 Faculty of Science & Technology
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan

TBB 2034

BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION OF KINGDOM

MONERA, FUNGI AND PLANTAE

Name Matric Number

Noor Azlina Bt Muhammad Ariffin D20081032354

Siti Aishah Bt Abdul Latiff D20081032348

Nur Amirah Bt Shamsudin D20081032302

Nur Dalilah Bt Bahrudin D20081032252

Nur Ain Bt Ahmad Fikri D20081032311

LECTURER : PN FATIMAH BT MOHAMED