DESERT ADAPTATIONSDESERT ADAPTATIONS

PLANTSPLANTS

Plants have many adaptations to cope with the lack of water in the desert. •The barrel cactus has an expandable stem for storing water.•Some other plants have adaptations that reduce water loss from their leaves (this is where most water is lost)

–Some have a waxy coating on their leaves–Some have small leaves or no leaves at all

• Annual Plants: annual plants on the desert survive periods where water is in short supply because their seeds germinate only after heavy rain, grow rapidly, and live their whole life-cycle in just a few days.

• Perennial Plants: they endure the dry periods and make the most of the scarce water supplies. – Grasses have large and complex root systems that allow them to

collect water over a wide area.– Bunchgrasses grow in isolated tufts. This reduces competition

between plants and assures each tuft of grass its own territory from which to draw water. They also grow tightly together which also conserves water that would be evaporated by the wind.

ANIMALSANIMALS

Almost all animals in the desert stay out of the sun during the hottest part of the day. They stay deep underground in burrows where it is much cooler.Most animals get their water from the food they eat. Green leaves contain a lot of water. Carnivores get water from the bodies of their prey, which contain liquid in the blood and tissues.

• Conserving water is important for desert mammals. Some small mammals:– Have no sweat glands– Pass no urine or very concentrated urine like the kangaroo rat.– Acquire all or most of the moisture they need from the food they eat.

• Bats, most rodents and some larger mammals, like coyotes and skunks, are nocturnal…active at night when it is cooler and sleeping during the hot daylight hours.

• Several animals have evolved long appendages to dissipate body heat into their environment.– The enormous ears of the jackrabbit and

mule deer release body heat when the animal is resting in a cool, shady location.

TROPICAL TROPICAL RAINFOREST RAINFOREST ADAPTATIONSADAPTATIONS

PLANTSPLANTS

Plants in the rainforest have adaptations that enable them to shed water efficiently.

The leaves of many rainforest plants have drip tips for this purpose.Tropical rainforest plants also have adaptations to take in what little sunlight is available on the dark forest floor.

• Large leaves are common; they increase the amount of sunlight a plant can capture.

• Other plants, like orchids, bromeliads and ferns, grow as epiphytes (a plant that grows on another plant upon

which it depends for mechanical support but not for nutrients) high up in the canopy where there is more sunlight.

• Because the weather is hot and wet, trees do not need thick bark to slow down moisture loss and have instead thin, smooth bark.

• They layers of rainforest are connected by vines and ferns, and mosses grow on the trees. Liana is a climbing vine that grows on rainforest trees, climbing into the canopy so its leaves get more sunlight.

• Some trees have above-ground roots called prop or stilt roots which give extra support to the trees. These roots can grow about 85 cm in a month.

ANIMALSANIMALS

• Because there are so many animals competing for food, many animals have adapted by learning to eat a particular food eaten by no other animal.

• Toucans have adapted by developing a long, large bill. This adaptation allows this bird to reach fruit on branches that are too small to support the bird’s weight. The bill is also used to cut the fruit from the tree.

• Many rainforest animals use camouflage to ‘disappear’ in the rainforest. Stick insects are perfect examples of this.

• There are also some butterflies whose wings look like leaves.

• Camouflage is of course useful for predators too, so that they can catch prey that hasn’t seen them. The boa constrictor is an example of a camouflaged predator.

• Monkeys and apes have adapted cleverly to tropical rainforests. All have long arms to use the canopy to swing through the trees, avoiding ground predators.

• An aye-aye’s large eyes allow more light in at night, and it uses echolocation to find its prey in the dark.

TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FOREST TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FOREST ADAPTATIONSADAPTATIONS

• In the spring, deciduous trees begin producing thin, broad, light-weight leaves. This type of leaf structure easily captures the sunlight needed for food production (photosynthesis).

• The broad leaves are great when temperatures are warm and there is plenty of sunlight. However, when temperatures are cold, the broad leaves expose too much surface area to water loss and tissue damage. To help prevent this damage from occurring, deciduous trees make internal and physical adaptation that are triggered by changes in the climate.

PLANTSPLANTS

• Cooler temperatures and limited sunlight are two climatic conditions that tell the tree to begin adapting. In the fall, when these conditions occur, the tree cuts off the supply of water to the leaves and seals off the area between the leaf stem and the tree trunk.

• With limited sunlight and water, the leaf is unable to continue producing chlorophyll, the “green” stuff in the leaves, and as the chlorophyll decreases the leaves change color.

ANIMALSANIMALS

• Migration and hibernation are two adaptations used by the animals in this biome.

• While a wide variety of birds migrate, many of the mammals hibernate during the cold winter months when food is in short supply.

• Another behavioral adaptation some animals have adopted is food storage.

• The nuts and seeds that are plentiful during the summer are gathered by squirrels, chipmunks, and some jays, and are stored in the hollows of trees for use during the winter months.

• Cold temperatures help prevent the decomposition of the nuts and seeds.

TUNDRA ADAPTATIONSTUNDRA ADAPTATIONS

• Growing close together and low to the ground are some of the adaptations that plants use to survive.

• This growing pattern helps the plant resist the effects of cold temperatures and reduce the damage caused by the impact of tiny ice particles of ice and snow that are driven by the dry winds.

PLANTSPLANTS

• Plants also have adapted to the arctic tundra by developing the ability to grow under a layer of snow, to carry out photosynthesis in extremely cold temperatures, and for flowering plants, to produce flowers quickly once summer begins.

• A small leaf structure is another physical adaptation that helps plants survive. Plants lose water through their leaf surface.

• By producing small leaves the plant is more able to retain the moisture it has stored.

ANIMALSANIMALS

• Migration and hibernation are examples of behavioral adaptations used by animals in the artic tundra.

• The fact that many animals do not live year-round in the tundra means they leave or migrate for a length of time to warmer climates.

• Hibernation is a combination of behavioral and physical adaptations.

• For example, during the summer the brown bear’s physical adaptation allows the food eaten during the summer to be stored as a layer of fat underneath its skin.

• The layer of fat insulates the bear from the cold. While in hibernation the fat is slowly converted into energy that maintains life.

OCEAN ADAPTATIONSOCEAN ADAPTATIONS

• Most ocean plants have adapted by developing gas or air sacs lift them towards the surface of the water, to collect sunlight. • Examples of this type of adaptation include Sargasso sea

weed, which are sometimes called ‘sea grapes’ because of the visibility of the gas sacs.

PLANTSPLANTS

• On oceanic plants, the root structure is called a keepfast, and is an adaptation to anchor the plants against the currents and causing no need for internal water transportation within the plant. • Most oceanic plants are classified primarily as macroscopic

algae than vascular plants

• Ocean plants have to be able to handle the dissolved salt in the water; the adaptation breaks down salt slowly and stores it and passes it along with the respiratory products of the plants.

• This can cause beds of oceanic plants to directly regulate the salinity of the water in their region for their own optimum environmental niche!

ANIMALSANIMALS

• Fish can drink salt water, and eliminate the salt through their gills.

• Seabirds also drink salt water, and the excess salt is eliminated via the nasal, or “salt glands” into the nasal cavity, and then is shaken or sneezed out.

• Whales don’t drink salt water - instead get the water they need from the organisms they eat.

• Fish and other organisms that live underwater can take their oxygen from the water, either through their gills or their skin.

• Marine mammals need to come to the water surface to breathe, which is why the deep-diving whales have blowholes on top of their heads, so they can surface to breathe while keeping most of their body underwater.

• In the oceans, water pressure increases 15 pounds per square inch for every 33 feet of water. While some ocean animals do not change water depths very often, far-ranging animals such as whales, sea turtles and seals sometimes travel from shallow waters to great depths several times in a single day.– To accommodate this pressure change some species have

collapsible lungs and/or rib cages

• Animals in the intertidal zone do not have to deal with high water pressure, but need to withstand the high pressure of wind and waves.

• Many marine invertebrates and plants in this habitat have the ability to cling on to rocks or other substances so they are not washed way, and have hard shells for protection.

• Species in this region also need to be highly adaptable to both dry and wet environmental changes throughout daily tides!!

• Organisms that need light, such as tropical coral reefs and their associated algae, are found in shallow, clear waters that can be easily penetrated by sunlight.

• Since underwater visibility and light levels can change, whales do not rely on sight to find their food. Instead, they locate prey using echolocation and their hearing.

• In the depths of the ocean abyss, some fish have lost their eyes or pigmentation because they are just not necessary.

• Other organisms are bioluminescent, using light-producing bacteria or their own light-producing organs to attract prey or mates.