Category Environtal Studies

Plants growing in bogs and peaty areas often need to supplement their food supply by catching insects. Bog water contains very little nitrogen, but some bog plants can obtain this substance by catching and digesting insects. They are known as insectivorous plants. Other insectivorous plants are covered with sticky tentacles that trap flies. The most remarkable is the Venus flytrap plant. It has two clawed plates that slam together when a fly walks over them and touches a trigger hair. Other insect-eating plants are aquatic, catching tiny crustaceans in bladder-shaped underwater traps. Some of the largest insectivorous plants live in the tropical rainforests.

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A tree that loses its leaves in winter is called a deciduous tree. Trees that are about to lose their leaves in the autumn conserve their food supplies by withdrawing all the nutrients from the leaves. Chlorophyll is broken down in the leaves, causing their pigment to change. Eventually all the nutrients are moved from the leaves and they wither, turn brown and eventually fall from the tree.

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Pollination is the process of transferring pollen from the stamen to stigma. It is possible for flowers to pollinate themselves, or other flowers on the same plant – this is called self-pollination. It is, however, much better for the health of the species if cross-pollination occurs, i.e. pollen is transferred from one plant to another. The most common method involves insects that are attracted to the flowers for their nectar. Pollen grains stick to the insects’ bodies and are effectively transferred from one plant to another as the insect moves from flower to flower. Other, less attractive types of flower, use wind to transport their pollen.

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Seeds are the main means by which flowering plants reproduce and spread. After the plant has been fertilized the egg cells develop into a seed from which a new plant can develop. The seed contains an embryo from which the new plant will grow. It also contains a food store to nourish the embryo until it has developed roots and leaves. The seed is enclosed in a tough outer coating to protect it from drying out. Many seeds can be carried by the wind. Some even have a fluffy umbrella like the dandelion seed head, which enables them to be carried for very long distances.

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The simple answer to this question is that trees never stop growing. Trees are the largest tree of all is the Californian giant redwood which can grow nearly 100 m high and can have a trunk that is 11 metres thick. The oldest-known trees are bristle cone pine trees. They grow in the White Mountains in California, in the USA. Although they are quite small, some of these gnarled trees are more than 4,500 years old.

Environmental factors such as water availability, soil quality, and change in the weather can affect the growth of a tree. Water is pulled up from the roots to the top of the tree by their leaves.

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Plants are organisms that use light as a source of energy and to produce the food they need in order to live and grow. The Earth’s original atmosphere contained poisonous gases. The lack of oxygen meant that no animals or plants could survive on the Earth. The earliest plants or plant-like bacteria began the process of photosynthesis, which releases oxygen as well as a waste product. This gas gradually built up in the atmosphere as the plant life spread, making it possible for oxygen-dependent animals to evolve.

Coral was formed by bacteria in much the same way as plants. It is made up of a variety of invertebrate marine organisms of a consistency. They live in colonies begun by just one polyp. Each polyp builds a hard skeleton around itself.

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