Plants have adaptations to help them survive (live and

grow) in different areas. Adaptations are special features

that allow a plant or animal to live in a particular place or
habitat like---

• Desert
• Grassland
• Tropical Rain Forest
• Temperate Rain Forest
• Temperate Deciduous Forest
• Taiga
• Tundra
• In Water
• The desert is very dry and often hot Plants are exposed to
extreme temperatures and drought conditions. Plants
must cope with extensive water loss
.
• adaptation of Desert Plant Adaptations

• Some plants, called succulents, store water in

their stems or leaves; • reducing water loss. Other plants have leaves
that turn throughout the day to expose a
• Some plants have no leaves or small seasonal minimum surface area to the heat.
leaves that only grow after it rains. The lack of
leaves helps reduce water loss during • Spines to discourage animals from eating plants
photosynthesis. Leafless plants conduct for water;
photosynthesis in their green stems. • Waxy coating on stems and leaves help reduce
• Long root systems spread out wide or go deep water loss.
into the ground to absorb water; • Flowers that open at night lure pollinators who
• Some plants have a short life cycle, germinating in are more likely to be active during the cooler
response to rain, growing, flowering, and dying night.
within one year. These plants can evade drought. • Slower growing requires less energy. The plants
• Leaves with hair help shade the plant, don't have to make as much food and therefore
do not lose as much water.
•This cactus displays •This cactus displays light- •This plant has a waxy
several desert adaptations: colored hair that helps coating on its leaves.
it has spines rather than shade the plant.
leaves and it stores water
in its stem.
 • The temperate grasslands, also called. The soil is extremely rich in organic
material due to the fact that the above-ground portions of grasses die off
annually, enriching the soil. The area is well-suited to agriculture, and few
original prairies survive today.

Temperate Grassland (Prairie) Plant Adaptations--

• During a fire, while above-ground portions of grasses may perish, the root portions
survive to sprout again
• Some prairie trees have thick bark to resist fire
• Prairie shrubs readily resprout after fire
• Roots of prairie grasses extend deep into the ground to absorb as much moisture as
they can
• Extensive root systems prevent grazing animals from pulling roots out of the
ground
• Prairie grasses have narrow leaves which lose less water than broad leaves
• Grasses grow from near their base, not from tip, thus are not permanently
damaged from grazing animals or fire
• Many grasses take advantage of exposed, windy conditions and are wind pollinated
• Soft stems enable prairie grasses to bend in the wind
Soft stems enable prairie grasses Many grasses are wind pollinated
to bend in the wind. Narrow and are well-suited to the
leaves minimize water loss. exposed, windy conditions of the
grasslands.
The tropical rainforest is hot and it rains a lot, Plants grow rapidly and quickly use up any organic
material left from decomposing plants and animals. This results is a soil that is poor. The tropical
rainforest is very thick, and not much sunlight is able to penetrate to the forest floor. However, the
plants at the top of the rainforest in the canopy, must be able to survive 12 hours of intense sunlight
every day of the year. There is a great amount of diversity in plant species in the tropical rainforest.
Drip-tips on leaves Prop roots help Some plants
help shed excess support plants in collect rainwater
water. the shallow soil. into a central
reservoir.
Epiphytes live on other plants Trees can grow very tall in this
to reach the sunlight. very moist environment.
 • light-weight leaves that can capture
a lot of sunlight to make a lot of
food for the tree in warm weather;
• wildflowers grow on forest floor when the weather gets cooler, the
early in the spring before trees leaf- broad leaves cause too much water
out and shade the forest floor loss and can be weighed down by too
much snow, so the tree drops its
• many trees are deciduous (they drop leaves. New ones will grow in the
their leaves in the autumn, and grow spring.
new ones in spring). Most deciduous
trees have thin, broad, • trees have thick bark to protect
against cold winters
 In the autumn,
Broad leaves can Many trees have deciduous trees
capture a lot of thick bark to drop their leaves to
sunlight for a tree. protect against the minimize water
cold winters in the loss.
temperate
deciduous forest.
Needle-like leaves help reduce water The shape of many conifer trees helps
loss and aids in the shedding of snow. shed heavy snow to save branches
from breaking.
These tundra plants are low- This plant grows in a clump to
growing. help conserve heat.
In floating plants, Aquatic plants must be
chlorophyll is restricted flexible to withstand the
to the upper pressures of moving
surface. Note the green water.
color on the top of the
leaves and the reddish
underside of the
overturned leaf.
 by---

srishti gupta