Plant Biology: Evolution of Plants
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1. Plants originated in the water, then moved to land. In order to do this, plants had to evolve a number of important structures that enabled their survival on land. Describe the structural changes that had to happen to support this move and discuss the functional importance of each of these structures to the environmental changes the plants had to face.
2. List and describe the primary characteristics that all plants share that define them as plant
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Solution Summary
This solution describes the changes and adaptations that occurred in plants that allowed them to leave their watery environment and take root on land. This solution is 400 words with five references.
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Plants evolved from algae, which lived in moist, watery environments and to live on land required a number of changes (McLamb 2010; Abedon 2005). They had to evolve a way to keep from drying out so a cuticle evolved to keep water in. They needed a way to exchange gases through the cuticle and the solution was stomata, which evolved to allow carbon dioxide in for photosynthesis and oxygen out. They would need a support system, something to help them stand up on land so a differentiation in tissue above and below ground occurred. This would allow distinct tissues, such as leaves, stems, and roots to form. Leaves helped to increase the area available to take in sunlight, stems provided support and contained the tissues that transported nutrients, roots took up water and nutrients from the soil. Vascular tissue (xylem and phloem) ...
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