Lichen
Bright and neutral colors of crumbly material sit upon a boulder that beckons to be noticed. A small child places its hand upon the rock and notices upon withdrawal that small bits of an unknown substance come back, stuck upon the palm. Many people are unaware that this strange substance, called lichen, is actually a plant and thrives and lives upon that boulder. Lichen is a special kind of plant that has its own unique biology, has many different types and classifications, and heavily monitors our environment.
To many people, plants are mainly just green chlorophyll-containing organisms that do the process of photosynthesis and release oxygen back into our air. Lichen is considered a plant but looks nothing like the plants that one would see when peering into their back yard. They have their own biology that is unique to them. “It is composed of two completely different organisms, microscopic green or blue-green algae and colorless fungal threads called hyphae” (Hale, 1969). It is interesting to see that these two organisms seem to live harmoniously with each other in symbiosis. What also makes this plant so different from all others is that a new plant body, referred to as the thallus, is formed. “This new composite organism behaves as a single independent plant, the green algae manufacturing sugars by photosynthesis and the fungus living off these foodstuffs and making up the bulk of the plant body” (Hale, 1969). Aside from their distinctive physical biology, lichens also come in a variety of colors. These include vibrant colors ranging from orange to red and then more neutral colors such as gray, brown, and black. No matter their color, though, they are beautiful and interesting organisms to look at and notice. “They vary in size from less to one millimeter to long, pendulous forms that hang over two meters from tree branches” (Nash, 1996). Besides from lichen growing off of tree branches, they call their habitat many other places such as “bare soil and rock surfaces, in the tropics and subtropics some rapidly growing lichens even colonize the surface of leaves as epiphylls, and a few occur in freshwater streams and in the marine intertidal zone” (Nash, 1969). Lastly, there are various forms in which these organisms grow, which include leaf-like, shrubby or hair-like, and crust-like.
Many variations and species of plants can be found all around the world and in different habitats. These variations and characteristics are due to their adaptations to the natural habitat surrounding them. In three of many climatic zones, the arid, tropical and temperate zone, plants that vary greatly from each other are found in these locations. In this experiment, we’ll be observing the connection between the adaptations of the plants to their environment at the Fullerton Arboretum. The arboretum is a space containing numerous plants from different environments. The plants are carefully looked after and organized into their specific habitat. Therefore, we’ll be able to take a look at the plants within multiple
stems of Ivy, one from the part of the garden that is exposed to lots
The Chaparral and Coastal Sage Scrub have a variety of different plant species, from Torrey Pine to Cacti. They each contain some helpful adaptations that have resulted from directional selection over many years. Many of the plants within the Chaparral and Coastal Sage Scrub have small leaves. This is advantageous because the smaller surface area prevents excess water loss. The stomata in turn are often closed during the day to maximize energy. Waxy coating is also for halting water loss. Another adaption is having leaves with dark colored tops and lighter undersides. Plants absorb red and blue light for photosynthesis and reflect green light, causing their green color. Since many chaparral leaves are green, more heat is deflected. The main goal for these adaptations is to conserve water during the day and to stop all energy expenditure. All of these adaptations are also attributed to the dry and fire-prone environment.
The high rate of absorbance change in blue light in the chloroplast samples (Figure 1) can be attributed to its short wavelength that provides a high potential energy. A high rate of absorbance change is also observed in red light in the chloroplast samples (Figure 1), which can be accredited to the reaction centre’s preference for a wavelength of 680nm and 700nm – both of which fall within the red light range (Halliwell, 1984). Green light showed low rates of photosynthetic activity and difference in change in absorbance at 605nm in the chloroplast samples (Figure 1) as it is only weakly absorbed by pigments, and is mostly reflected. The percentage of absorption of blue or red light by plant leaves is about 90%, in comparison to the 70–80% absorbance in green light (Terashima et al, 2009). Yet despite the high absorbance and photosynthetic activity of blue light, hypocotyl elongation was suppressed and biomass production was induced (Johkan et al, 2012), which is caused by the absorption of blue light by the accessory pigments that do not transfer the absorbed energy efficiently to the chlorophyll, instead direction some of the energy to other pathways. On the other hand, all of the red light is absorbed by chlorophyll and used efficiently, thus inducing hypocotyl elongation and the expansion in leaf area (Johkan et al, 2012).
As a result of these factors, the flora has adapted to these conditions in a variety of ways including their shape, leaf type, root system, and color. One of the most prominent adapt...
If you ever had the chicken pox then you have the shingles virus. Shingles occurs when the varicella virus is awakening in the body. Signs of the shingles include tingling and a lot of pain also includes a blistering rash. Early symptoms of the shingles include fever and general weakness. Then a few days later you start to notice pink or red patches and rash like on one side of your body. The shingles often appears around the rib cage or waist. This is referred to as a shingles band or the shingles girdle. This can cover a wide area on one side of the body and it can be very painful if you wear tight clothing. Then there’s the ophthalmic shingles, it affects the nerve that controls the facial sensation and the movement in your face. This can appear around your eyes on the forehead and the nose. The symptoms for this are headaches, redness and swelling of the eyes, this can cause the eyes to have double vision or blurred vision. The rash that shingles develops is blisters with fluid inside them similar to chicken pox. New and new blisters continue to develop for a couple of days. It’s...
The plant life consist of big coniferous trees, mosses, lichens, and special flowers called the Indian Paintbrush. Other trees that are very common consist of the
Photosynthesis occurs in green plants, seaweeds, algae, and some bacteria. These organisms are virtual sugar factories, producing millions of new glucose molecules per second. Plants use most of this glucose, which is a carbohydrate, as an energy source to build leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds [1]. They also convert the produced glucose into cellulose, which they use as structural material in their cell walls. Most plants produce more glucose than they use, however, and they store it in the form of starch and other carbohydrates in roots, stems (Figure 1), and leaves (Figures 2 & 3). The plants can then draw on these reserves for extra energy or building materials. Each year, photosynthesizing organisms produce about 170 billion metric tons of extra carbohydrates, about 30 metric tons for every person on earth [2].
Photosynthesis is, “the process by which plants convert light energy from the Sun into chemical energy in the form of carbohydrates” thus producing, “food for all living organisms, directly or indirectly” (Zheng). Photosynthesis has been examined in thousands of different ways. Many of these experiments include studying the rate of photosynthesis and pigment accumulation by obtaining plants and then stressing their light and nutrient intake (Okunlola and Adekunle). Photosynthetic pigments reflect and absorb different wavelengths of visible light based off their polarity. In this experiment, we studied photosynthetic pigments, first, by determining polarity and then, by measuring the amount of light of a given wavelength that a pigment absorbs. We used two methods in this experiment, chromatography and spectrophotometry. Chromatography “is a method used to separate mixtures of substances into their components” (lab book) and spectrophotometry is the use of a spectrophotometer to measure transmittance of light through a liquid. We used our knowledge of polarity to predict that since the least polar pigments move the most, pigment 1 is chlorophyll b, pigment 2 is chlorophyll a, pigment 3 is an anthocyanin, pigment 4 is a xanthophyll, and since most polar pigments move the least, pigment 5 is
Lignin is one of the key elements that allowed for plants to be able to evolve to a point where they were able to survive on land. Lignin is a macromolecule that serves to bind cellulose together and create strong structural support for plants. A plant’s ability to grow is especially limited by their strength, making lignin crucial for vascular plants. Plants lacking lignin are often non-vascular, and are less evolved than those plants with lignin present. Without lignin land plants would not be able to stand upright, which would interfere with many things necessary to plant growth, such as the conduction of sunlight as well as shade avoidance, or being able to grow out of lightless areas.
While sitting around your house, watching television, you notice that you have been scratching your arm and in between your fingers for a little while. After taking a closer look you notice something that you assume is a rash and just ignore it. The next day however you notice that the rash has spread and that you think you see burrows in your skin. Then it hits you, the weekend that you spent away on vacation in that not so expensive hotel to save a couple of dollars has now cost you more money in the long run. You must go see your doctor to be treated for scabies!
The tundra is known for its’ cold temperatures, but also its’ limited plant species. The growth of the vegetation is primarily low to the ground and the biomass of plants is concentrated in the roots. Here the plants reproduce more likely by division and building than by flower pollination. Some of that growthforms that you will find in the tundra include tussock, mats or cushion plants, rosettes, and dwarf shru...
In the lab exercise regarding plant structure and function, we examined slides containing the different kinds of roots (monocot, dicot). We labeled the parts and pointed out the different roles of each in the plant structure. Also, we examined monocot stems and dicot stems in order to familiarize ourselves with its external and internal structures. We sketched and labeled the parts of the stem and looked closely at the positions of each part. In the last part of the lab, we classified leaves into different kinds according to their leaf venation, bases of leaves, and apices of leaves. As an additional exercise, we sketched 20 animals and classified them according to phylum and class. We were also able to discover the scientific and common names of the animals. Overall, the exercises we did enabled us to familiarize ourselves with plant structure thus, gaining a better understanding for plant life and its importance.
In plants, proteins called photosynthetic reaction centers contain green chlorophyll that absorbs light energy. These proteins are held inside organelles called chloroplasts, which is abundant in leaf cells. In contrast, bacteria house the proteins in the plasma membrane. Chloroplasts are found in the cells of green plants and photosynthetic algae where photosynthesis takes place. Inside the chloroplast are folded structures in disk-shaped arrangement called thylakoids, which enclose chlorophyll in their membrane. Only certain portions of the light spectrum can be absorbed and the photosynthetic action spectrum is dependent on the type of accessory pigment present. Green plants mostly absorb red and blue wavelengths because the action spectrum corresponds to absorption spectrum for chlorophylls and carotenoids. The color of the pigment comes from the wavelengths of light reflected. Plants appear green because they reflect yellow and green wavelengths of light. Photosynthesis involves two series of chemical events, called the light independent that occurs in the stroma and light dependent reactions that occurs in the lumen. They are also known as light and dark reactions this terminology is somewhat ambiguous, because the entire process of photosynthesis is regulated to take place when an organism absorbs visible light. Organized clusters of chlorophyll and beta-carotene in the thylakoid membrane are present to
One day, scientists may be able to turn lignin from a troublesome to a treasure that is able to improve our environment.