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Botanical Structures:
Plants have evolved many structural adaptations to
deal with climate, reproductive needs, and other
environmental factors.
Structures:
Seeds
Fruits
Flowers
Leaves
Stems
Roots
Photosynthetic pathways
etc.
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Plant Predators:
Predation benefits the predator, but not the prey (+ interaction).
Plant predation (herbivory, defoliation) takes various
forms:
Parasites: for example, aphids (suck plant sap)
Grazers: for example, deer defoliate parts of plant (eat it).
In the case of grass, this
can actually stimulate growth because old matter is removed and the meristem
(point of plant growth) is at the base of leaf is able to produce new growth.
Aphids
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Grass
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Deer
Meristem at base
Plant Defense:
Plants have evolved defenses due to stress caused by
predators.
Defensive responses to predatory stress:
Structural Defenses
Chemical Defenses
Mimicry
Predator Satiation
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Passion flower mimics
butterfly egg so leaf
appears “taken”
Intraspecific Competition:
Stress is also caused by increased
competition (- - interaction)
due to high population density.
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(Intraspecific competition is
between members of the same species).
Responses to competitive stress:
Organisms can minimize stress
with dispersal. Especially
young organisms or when
desirable environments are
available.
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Interspecific Interactions :
Competition is a negative interaction (- -) for all
organisms. So organisms evolve to minimize
competition. (Interspecific competition is
between members of different species).
Evolution leads to symbiotic interactions between
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species.
Interactions:
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Mutualism (+ +)
A remarkable 3-way mutualism
appears to have evolved between
an ant, a butterfly caterpillar, and
an acacia in the American
southwest. The caterpillars have
nectar organs which the ants drink
from, and the acacia tolerates the
feeding caterpillars. The ants
appear to provide some protection
for both plant and caterpillar.
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Commensalism (+ 0)
An example of commensalism in the rainforest is the tremendous numbers
of vines, mosses, lichens and climbing plants that use the trunks and
branches of trees for support or substrate.
Interspecific Interactions :
Competition is a negative interaction (- -) for all organisms. So plants evolve to minimize competition.
Evolution leads to the formation of new species with
specialized niches.
Resource Partitioning: Niches minimize competition
by separating organisms in space and time. An
example of this is resource partitioning.
Interspecific Interactions :
Competition is a negative interaction (- -) for all organisms. So plants evolve to minimize competition.
A rainforest is a good example
of how interactions among plant species
can lead to resource partitioning.
There is intense competition (- interaction) for light.
All plants “lose” as they use their energy
to grow towards light.
Some plants are selected for (emergent
layer) and exclude others from best light
areas.
Plants in lower light areas (understory,
forest floor) have evolved to make this
their niche--broadening their leaves,
maximizing growth during high-light
times, etc.
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