Narrator:Listen to part of a talk in an environmental science class.
So we’ve been talking about how plants adapt to survive in harsh conditions, conditions where you might not think where any plant could live. Let’s look at two ways that plants have adapted for the alpine environment high in the mountains. The conditions there are especially harsh. It’s very cold. There are high winds. The soil is rocky and there is very little water. Yet, some plants can survive. So first, the high winds, how do plants survive them? In other words, how have they adapted to live in high winds? The answer is simple. They grow low to the ground. Obviously a tall plant would be damaged by the wind. Alpine shrubs, they’re bushes, but they’re like no bush you have ever seen. An alpine shrub grows low to the ground, very low. It’s really just a tight bunch of leaves only a few centimeters tall. Because it’s so slow, these shrubs avoid wind damage. Alpine plants have also adapted to conserve water. This is important because the soil is dry. Water is scarce. Also, wind causes plants to lose water through their leaves via evaporation. So how do alpine plants hold on to water? Well, they’ve adapted to prevent evaporation, the loss of water from their leaves. One plant in particular we see this happen with is the mountain cranberry. It’s got special leaves designed to preserve moisture. The leaves have a waxy skin, kind of extra protective coating. This layer seals in water, which prevents evaporation, which means the mountain cranberry, because it loses very little water to the air, it can keep and use what little water it gets.
Using points and examples from the lecture, explain two ways plants have adapted in order to survive in alpine environments.
