Started thinking about it when i was watching car racing through the desert ((https://youtu.be/zt5oXJTxAxU?si=N6SHVjMdOSBXCpPr)) and there are just random plant life all spread out.
I want to know two things:
How do they survive, what makes them so special?
And is it possible to just fly over the desert dropping off a load of seeds in the small chance of it growing, if so would that be a reasonable thing to do?
​
​
In: Biology
They soak up water quickly when it’s available. And require less water compared to other plants. Flash floods and rain storms happen in the desert and offer brief moments to capture more water. Ultimately, they’ve evolved to exist there. Some are dead, though, but still stuck in the ground.
Desert plants are highly adapted to survive the intense heat and droughts, using techniques such as:
-a succulent form(a very thick stem and leaves that stores extra water and has a lower surface area ratio which makes it easer to keep itself cool). Succulent forms may also be paired with a very large and thick underground stem and root system where most of the plant’s mass is, as the underground is cooler.
-C4 or CAM photosynthesis methods. most plants use C3 Photosynthesis. C4 and CAM both serve to concentrate carbon dioxide in their cells which improves the efficiency of photosynthesis, and reduces water that is wasted in the process. A little fun fact is that C4 is relatively new, its only about 21 million years old, and while CAM is much older, around 200 million years(aka right around the end of the Triassic), for most of the history of plants(around 850 million years), these adaptions which are highly effective for both drought and aquatic environments were not present.
-slower growth rates and very long lifespans
-very large root systems which either dig very deep and/or very wide to collect as much water as possible.
-adaptations to collect water not just from rainfall, but from fog and dew that will roll through more often than rain.
-many plants go dormant during harsh summer months, just like how plants in northern climates go dormant in the winter, and start growing again when rainfall and cooler temperatures return.
But, even with all these strategies, its still a very harsh climate with limited resources, particularly water and nutrients, and there are herbivores or infectious pathogens out there that can still hurt or kill these plants, so many desert plants still don’t make it, especially seedlings, and in many extreme cases the plants are spread out because each covers a wide area with its roots to try and take in water and nutrients, or because some of the plants are killed by herbivores or disease, creating distance between survivors. Often times the seeds of these plants can also travel a ways on wind or the droppings of animals waiting for exceptionally good conditions to germinate or grow, such as a year with more abundant rainfall or cooler temperatures.
To answer your other question, if we were to simply drop lots of seeds that were cultivated elsewhere, results would be mixed. Most seeds would die even if conditions were ideal and during the same part of the year when seed would normally be germinating. Unless its a case of changing climates or terrain or human actions caused the loss of plantlife, the density of plants in desert environments is often the way it is for a reason and has likely been stable for millions of years at that point, and a sudden influx of new plants native to that region would likely only temporarily add to the amount of greenery. Eventually the surplus would die off again. This wouldn’t necessarily be the case for invasive species though, but thats a whole other can of worms.
Depends on the desert. Some coastal deserts in South America and Africa get fog/mist from the ocean even if they don’t get rain.
In other places there are aquifers, the water may not be visible in dry creekbeds, but there is still enough moisture deep down. Plants grow deep roots to reach the water.
The Tree of Tenere in Niger was the only tree for 250 miles in any direction, until it was knocked over by a truck driver. The roots of the tree were over 100 feet deep.
Latest Answers