Module 3: Biodiversity of

Life Continued: Kingdom

Plantae
Academic Upgrading: Biology 112
Oulton College
Learning Objectives
On successfully completing this module, you will be able to:
• describe the differences that exist between the major groups of plants;
compare monocots and dicots, vascular and non-vascular plants,
gymnosperms and angiosperms.
• explain how plants adapt to their environments.
• summarize the differences that exist between the invertebrate phyla with
respect to body cavity, reproduction and digestion.
• explain why arthropods are the most successful class of animals on Earth.
• compare and contrast the classes of chordates (invertebrates and
vertebrates).
Learning Objectives
• outline the anatomy and physiology (including life cycles) of
representative Plantae and Animalia organisms.
• explain how natural populations are kept in equilibrium, and how
biodiversity of an ecosystem contributes to its sustainability; compare
New Brunswick eco-regions in terms of biodiversity, climate, physical
geography, and location.
• analyze the impact of human behaviour, and human population
growth on biodiversity and ecosystems.

3b--Learning Guide
Kingdom Plantae
Plants
• multicellular eukaryotes.
• cells are surrounded by a cell wall made of cellulose.
• use the energy from the sun in the process of photosynthesis to make
their own food.
• Most are autotrophs.
• not motile.
• ancestors of plants were the filamentous green algae.
Plants
• mostly terrestrial organisms,
• Have evolved many ways in which they can survive well on land.
• Roots solidly anchor the plant and penetrate the soil in search of
water and nutrients;
• leaves absorb solar radiation over a large surface area to aid in
photosynthesis;
• stems provide rigid support for the leaves.
Plants
• Vascular Tissue = certain cells that have become specialized to
transport water and nutrients from the tips of the roots up to each
and every leaf.
• vascular tissue functions much like our circulatory system—the xylem
is the water-conducting tissue, the phloem conveys food material.
• Some plants do not possess any vascular tissue at all.
• kingdom Plantae is a very diverse group of organisms
Classifying Plants
• The plant kingdom is first
organized into two
groups:
• the non-vascular
• vascular plants.
• either seedless or seed-
producing species.
Plant Life Cycles: Alternation of
Generations
• Being non-motile, land plants are dependent on water, wind, insects
or other animals to aid in sexual reproduction.
• Mosses and ferns require environmental water (dew or rain) for the
release of sex cells (gametes).
• Other plants produce waterproof pollen and eggs (ova) that, after
fertilization, become wrapped in protective seed coats.
• Seeds allow plants to survive drought, freezing and, sometimes, fire!
• As a result of this, seed-bearing plants are the most widespread group
of all.
Plant Life Cycles: Alternation of
Generations
• An alternation of generations occurs within plant life cycles:
• A diploid sporophyte is followed by a haploid gametophyte and so
on.
• One stage or the other becomes the dominant one, depending on the
plant species.
• In non-vascular plants, the dominant stage is the gametophyte;
• in vascular plants, the dominant stage is the sporophyte.
Non-Vascular Plants
• simplest of all land dwelling plants
• almost always found in damp, shady places.
• Without any vascular tissue for transport
• depend on diffusion, osmosis and cytoplasmic streaming to move
nutrients from one area to another.
• generally live in moist or wet, shady environments, growing close to
the ground.
• Rhizoids (rather than roots) extend from their lower surfaces into the
soil.
Non-Vascular Plants
• generally only reach a height of one to two centimetres
• lack the woody tissue necessary for support on land.
• The dominant life cycle phase of non-vascular plants is the haploid
gametophyte.
• this phase of the non-vascular plant life cycle that we recognize as
the "blanket of green" we often see in nature.
• The diploid sporophyte stage is much less obvious.
Non-Vascular Plants
• Because of their sensitivity to the world around
them, useful indicators of environmental conditions.
• particularly susceptible to air and water pollution,
• makes them good indicators of the purity of the
environment.
• for example, trees usually have large numbers of mosses
and other green plants growing on them, but in urban
areas the trees are generally bare.
• Some mosses will only grow where calcium is freely
available in the substrate.
The Bryophytes (Mosses)
• After flowering plants and ferns, most diverse group of plants, with
more than 10,000 species in 700 genera—almost twice as diverse as
mammals!
• grow on rocks, buildings, bark of trees and in soil.
• grow anywhere there is moisture.
• aid in soil development.
• After lichens have created a foothold in rocks, mosses move in, eventually
becoming a layer of topsoil for higher plants to take root.
• Mosses hold loose dirt in place, thereby preventing erosion and even
landslides
Mosses
• Some are aquatic, living in bogs or streams.
• usually grow in a mat formation, which consists of many plants
growing in a tight pack to hold one another up.
• The mat usually has a spongy quality which enables it to retain
water.
• This aids in reproduction and prevents the plants from drying out
Bryophyte Life Cycle
• The haploid gametophyte phase is the free-living "green" plant
• It is the photosynthetic stage of the life cycle.
• The diploid sporophyte grows from, and is nourished by, the
gametophyte.
• The sporophyte is the brownish "cap with a stalk" that protrudes
from the top of the green mossy carpet.
The life cycle of a typical haircap moss
Liverworts and Hornworts
• While mosses are the most common non-vascular plants, most damp
forests and parks support many liverwort and hornwort species as well.
• These are considered the simplest of all plants.
• Liverworts are so named because of their liver-shaped leaves in the
gametophyte phase.
• Leaves are in two rows (a third row may be on the underside) and flattened.
• Their bodies are divided into deeply grooved lobes.
• Leafy forms of liverworts are often found with mosses growing on tree
trunks or rocks.
Liverworts
• Common in the moist Acadian forest of New Brunswick, Bazzania
trilobata grows in clumps on soil, the bases of trees and boulders,
with the stems usually forked towards their tips.
• The lateral leaves are shallowly divided into three lobes.
Hornworts
• Hornworts are not a very diverse group.
• Hornworts resemble non-leafy liverworts in their gametophytes, but they can be
easily distinguished by their sporophytes.
• Hornworts are so named due to the green, horn-like sporophytes that arise from a
group of cells at the base of the horn that divide continuously throughout the
sporophyte's life span.
• This feature is unique among plants—hornworts are the only known plants to possess a
continuously-dividing group of cells.
• Another unique feature of hornworts is their photosynthetic cells—each possesses
a single large chloroplast instead of the many smaller chloroplasts that most plants
• The sex lives of nonvascular plants (video) | Khan Academy
Vascular Plants: Xylem and Phloem
• Within the body of many plants, certain cells have become specialized to
transport water and nutrients from the tips of roots up to each and every leaf.
• This vascular tissue functions much like our circulatory system—the xylem is
the water-conducting tissue, the phloem conveys food material (nutrients in
solution).
• Phloem tubes are made of living cells with perforated endplates that allow
materials to flow though.
• Xylem tubes are made of dead cells joined end to end with no end walls
between them.
• Phloem tubes carry starch down to the roots, and the xylem carries water and
minerals up to the leaves.
 Intro to vascular tissues (xylem & phloem) (video) | Khan Acade

Xylem and Phloem

my
Xylem and Phloem
• Vascular bundles are found in roots, stems and leaves.
• Venation in leaves tell us exactly where the vascular tissue is in this
part of a plant.
• Both xylem and the phloem are capable of carrying fluids throughout
the body of the plant, even against the force of gravity.
• As well, the rigidity of the xylem vessels in particular, combined with
the strength of the plant cell walls, enables many vascular plants to
grow upright and often quite tall.
• Vascular plants are referred to as tracheophytes.
Vascular Plants: Seedless Groups
• possess true roots, stems and leaves.
• The first vascular plants showed up on earth during the carboniferous period,
about 300 million years ago.
• Many seedless vascular plants were once tree-sized.
• During the carboniferous period, they were also so abundant that in some areas, their
remains accumulated faster than they decomposed.
• These accumulations eventually produced some of the fossil fuels (coal, oil and
natural gas) we still use today.
• contain xylem and phloem vessels,
• do not flower or produce seeds.
• reproduce and spread through spores.
Vascular Plants: Seedless Groups
• reproduce by spores that are dispersed by the wind.
• Sperm are flagellated and require water for reproduction, limiting these
plants to moist areas.
• Due to the presence of a transport system (vascular tissue), these
plants are able to grow taller and exist in a more diverse range of
habitats.
• Atlantic Canada possesses a very healthy and diverse group of ferns in
particular.
• Seedless vascular plants are represented today by the ferns and their
relatives.
Pteridophytes: The True Ferns
• True ferns are represented by 10,000 or so species.
• prefer warm, moist areas yet exist in cooler, drier habitats as well.
• possess true roots, stems and leaves.
• Many fern species leaves appear out of the early spring ground as
curled leaves, or "fiddleheads", an edible delicacy (especially in New
Brunswick!).
• The mature fern leaf, or frond, ranges in size from 1.0 cm to 8.0
metres, depending on species.
• Many species of pteridophytes inhabit Atlantic Canada.
Four Fern Species
The Fern Life Cycle
• In vascular plants, the dominant phase of the life cycle is the diploid
sporophyte
• This is opposite to the dominant haploid gametophyte of non-
vascular plants.
• * Vascular plants = Winning! (video) | Khan Academy
3c--Activity: "Primitive" Plants
Vascular Plants: Seed-Producing
• Seeds provide protection against the environment and allow plants to
reproduce sexually without water.
• Both gymnosperms (conifers and their relatives)
and angiosperms (flowering plants) disperse by means of seeds.
• Gymnosperms are "naked seeds" (seeds are exposed)
• Angiosperms protect their seeds within fruit.
• Wind, water and even other animals often help these plants with the
distribution of their seeds over large ranges
The Gymnosperms
• Many gymnosperms grow quite large.
• a number of redwood trees are well over 100 metres tall, and there is a
sequoia with a trunk diameter of 26 metres!
• The phloem vessels carry water from the roots all the way up to the
rest of the tree, and xylem vessels take food back down to the roots
• Some of the longest living organisms on our planet are gymnosperms
• For example, bristlecone pines can live for nearly 5000 years!
Gymnosperms
• include a few tropical cycads (palm-like plants), one species of ginkgo
but mostly conifers.
• Pines, firs, spruce, cedars, tamaracks (larch) and yews are a few
examples of the cone-bearing conifers.
• The coniferous forests of the world cover much of the colder, drier
and windy regions.
• Conifers are well-adapted to these environments.
• The pyramidal shape of most conifers allows snow and ice to slide off
strong flexible branches.
Gymnosperms
• Bark on the stems of these plants not only serves as protection, it
helps to prevent drying out.
• The needle-like leaves reduce surface area for evaporation, and along
with their waxy coating, help with reducing water loss.
• Conifers can exist and actually grow quite well in nutrient-poor soil.
• Almost all conifers are evergreen
• they replace their leaves continually throughout the year (not all at
once as with deciduous trees).
• As a result, evergreens are able to photosynthesize all winter long.
Deciduous conifer
• Common deciduous conifer in Canadian forests = The tamarack
• The tamarack, Larix laricina, is a deciduous conifer that reaches
heights of 20 meters or more.
• Soft green needles turn a golden hue before dropping from the
branches in the autumn months.
• New, soft green needles and small, crimson-brown coloured cones
appear again each spring.
Gymnosperm Reproduction
• diploid sporophyte is the dominant generation.
• The mature sporophyte of the gymnosperms is the tree that we see
in the forest!
• The gametophyte generation occurs within the cones, which develop
on the mature sporophyte plant.
• The seeds of gymnosperms develop on the surface of the individual
cone scales (sporophylls) deep within the cones.
• Most gymnosperms are monoecious;
• possess both male and female reproductive organs on the same
plant.
Gymnosperm Reproduction
• Inside the smaller male cone, male spores (microspores) develop into
gametophytes.
• Each male gametophyte consists of several cells enclosed within a
grain of pollen.
• Inside the larger female cone, female spores (megaspores) develop
into gametophytes.
• Each female gametophyte produces an egg inside an ovule.
Pollination and Fertilization
• Gymnosperm pollen is dispersed by wind.
• The grain of pollen is enclosed in a hard, water-resistant coat.
• Interestingly, a grain of pine pollen also has two large air sacs to make it
buoyant in the wind, resulting in a "Mickey Mouse hat" appearance!
• As the pollen lands next to an egg chamber (archegonium) at the
base of the cone scale, a pollen tube develops that allows the sperm
passageway directly into the egg.
• One of the two sperm nuclei present in the tube fertilizes one of
the eggs in one of the archegonia in each of the ovules.
Pollination and Fertilization
• The other sperm nucleus and all other eggs and archegonia in the fertilized
female gametophyte disintegrate so one zygote per ovule is left.
• The zygote develops into an embryo within a seed (which forms from the ovule)
in the female cone.
• has its own food supply
• is protected against the elements by a hardened seed coat.
• Seeds mature within the cone on the tree for months or years.
• The developing embryo has the beginnings of a root, stem and leaves.
• When the winged seed is mature, the scales of the female cone peel back (the
cone "opens" up), the seed separates from the cone and is carried by the wind to
a new location.
Germination
• When the seed germinates, the embryo continues to grow into a new
tree.
• At the start, the seedling uses the nutrients provided by the female
gametophyte until its first leaves are above ground and large enough
to undergo photosynthesis.
• The seedling eventually grows into a mature sporophyte tree, which
repeats the cycle!
The Life Cycle of the Pine Tree (Pinus sp.)
• video on
seed production in g
ymnosperms
will help.
3d--Self Assessment Time

• Primitive Plants and Gymnosperms

The Angiosperms: Flowering Plants
• make up over 75% of the plant species on our planet.
• most diverse plant group, with over 250,000 living species classified in more
than 450 families.
• include many trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, grasses and water plants.
• grow in many shapes and sizes, displaying every colour of the rainbow.
• grow on other plants (as epiphytes);
• grow as floating and rooted aquatic species (both freshwater and marine
habitats)
• grow as terrestrial plants.
Angiosperms
• plants that protect their seeds within the body of a fruit.
• occupy every habitat on the planet except for the highest
mountaintops, the north and south poles, and the ocean trenches
• live in the tropics as well as on the tundra.
• Most of the world's crops are angiosperms, as are most natural
clothing fibres (...think cotton!).
• also sources for other important resources, such as medicine and
timber.
Characteristics of Angiosperms
• Despite their diversity, angiosperms share several common
characteristics.
• Angiosperms have sunken stomata (pores) on their leaves that help to
prevent water loss; small hairs may also aid in this regard.
• Flowering plants are diploid sporophytes which do not produce
spores.
• They all exhibit features of gametophyte structure and development
—pollen grains and ovum cells are all that remain of the gametophyte
generation in angiosperms.
Angiosperms
• Angiosperm eggs are fertilized and develop into a seed in an ovary
that is usually in a flower.
• The flower structure is the main reason for the worldwide success of
angiosperms!
• Some angiosperms display large showy flowers, while others, such as
grasses, produce very small, inconspicuous flowers.
• Duckweed plant flowers are the smallest of all.
• An individual flower may reach only 0.1 mm in length!
The Structure of a Flower
• Angiosperms may be monoecious (having both male and female
reproductive parts within the same flower) or dioecious (containing
either male or female reproductive parts within the flower).
• Before the flower bud opens, it is protected by the green sepals.
• The brightly-coloured petals serve to attract pollinators to the flower.
• Most flower structures are actually modified leaves.
The Structure of a Flower
• The male sex organs are called stamens:
• each stamen includes a filament and an anther.
• The filament is the stalk that supports the anther at the top of the
stamen.
• Pollen is produced and stored in the anther.
• Stamens contain two pairs of pollen sacs.
A Flower
• The female sex organs are called pistils (or carpels): each pistil includes
the stigma, the style and the ovary.
• The pollen lands on the sticky tip of the pistil, the stigma, which is at the
end of the support stalk, the style.
• The pollen tube makes its way down the style to the swollen base of the
pistil, the ovary.
• The ovary encloses the ovules (containing the female gametes).
• After fertilization, the wall of the ovule hardens to become the seed coat.
• The ovary becomes the fruit or seed pod (although other parts may be
involved depending on the species).
A flower
Pollination in Angiosperms
• Pollination = transference of pollen from the male to the female
flower structures.
• Angiosperms mostly rely on pollinators such as insects and other
animals (e.g. birds, bats) to transport pollen from one plant to
another.
• When animals harvest nectar from a flower, they pick up some pollen
as they go, and as they move from flower to flower they leave some
of that pollen behind.
Pollination in Angiosperms
• Angiosperms have evolved many strategies in favour of cross-
pollination (as opposed to self-pollination).
• In many plants, the stigma (female) usually extends well beyond the
anthers (male).
• In some plants, separate male and female flowers may mature at
differing times.
• In some cases, chemical barriers may even prevent self-pollination.
Pollination
• angiosperms and their pollinators have evolved together.
• Grains of pollen are generally bigger in flowers pollinated by animals;
• they also contain sticky substances or hooks for attaching to the bodies of
animals as they pass by.
• The colour, scent and shape of the flower attracts different insects.
• Bee vision extends into the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum.
• Although we cannot see UV light, bees can pick up visual cues on flower
petals directing them to nectar at the base of the flowers.
Pollination
• Some flowers are structured so that only the mouthparts of
butterflies can access the nectar.
• some flowers mimic female insects, enticing the males of the species
to "copulate" with them!
• And... flowers pollinated by bats are open only at night!
Double Fertilization
• Angiosperms undergo double
fertilization, that is, fertilization
that requires two sperm cells.
• Inside the anthers, each cell
undergoes meiosis to produce
four haploid spore cells.
• Each of these becomes a single
pollen grain.
• The pollen grain divides to
produce two haploid nuclei.
Double Fertilization
• Within the ovules, a single diploid cell undergoes
meiosis to produce four haploid cells.
• Three disintegrate and the remaining cell divides a
few times to produce eight nuclei.
• These make up the embryo sac.
• One of the eight nuclei becomes the egg nucleus.
• Two of the eight stay together in one cell that will
eventually be the endosperm, or food supply.
• The other five nuclei (called "synergids") disintegrate.
Double Fertilization
• Angiosperm pollen grains are two-celled:
• one is the tube cell and the other is the generative
cell.
• When a pollen grain reaches the stigma, it
grows a pollen tube.
• The generative nucleus divides by mitosis
forming two sperm nuclei.
• These, along with the pollen tube nucleus,
migrate down the pollen tube as it grows,
through the style and then into
the ovule chamber.
Double Fertilization
• Once inside the ovule, one sperm nucleus fuses with the egg forming
the diploid zygote.
• The other sperm nucleus fuses with the nuclei forming
the endosperm nucleus, a triploid (3n) cell.
• The tube nucleus disintegrates.
• Following this double fertilization, each ovule develops into a seed.
• Eventually the seeds become
surrounded by fruit.
Double Fertilization
• double fertilization explains some of the success of angiosperms.
• In gymnosperms, the nutritive endosperm is built up before
fertilization occurs;
• in angiosperms, the endosperm develops after fertilization happens,
therefore, no food is wasted if an ovule is not fertilized.
The Life Cycle of an Angiosperm
• As with all vascular plants, the diploid sporophyte is the dominant
generation.
• The mature sporophyte of the angiosperms is the main plant body.
• The gametophyte generation occurs within the flowers, which
develop on the mature sporophyte plant.
• The plants & the bees: Plant reproduction (video) | Khan Academy
Seed and Fruit Development
• The development of the seed as both protection and nutrition for the
developing embryo helped in the success of plants as they moved
from aquatic to terrestrial environments.
• Whereas gymnosperms developed "naked" seeds, angiosperms went
a step further and encased their seeds within fruit.
• The sole function of fruit, from the plant perspective, is to aid in seed
dispersal.
Seed and Fruit Development
• Shortly after fertilization, the ovary swells and the petals and sepals
breakdown then fall off.
• Within the ovary are the seeds.
• Seeds are ovules containing the developing plant embryo and its
endosperm food source, all enclosed within a thickened coat.
• The ovary and seeds develop into the fruit of the plant.
Development of Fruit
• Many vegetables are in fact fruit (e.g. tomatoes, cucumbers, corn,
peas, rice).
• Anything that contains seeds within an ovary wall is a fruit.
• Seeds are dispersed with the help of the animals that feed on the fruit
and excrete the seeds in new locations.
• Angiosperms that depend on wind and water for seed dispersal don't
require fleshy fruit to attract animals—they produce lighter, less
fleshy protective coverings.
• excellent video on angiosperm reproduction and life cycle.
Cotyledons: Monocots vs Dicots
• Angiosperms are divided into two groups, dependent on
the number of embryonic seed leaves, or cotyledons,
present.
• Palms, orchids, lilies, irises, grasses and grains such as
wheat, corn and oats are monocots.
• Monocots possess one seed leaf.
• Fruits like dates and bananas also belong to the monocot
group.
• Monocot seeds store most of their food within the
endosperm.
Cotyledons: Monocots vs Dicots
• The vast majority of plants are dicots, including most trees, shrubs,
vines, fruit and vegetable plants and flowers.
• Dicots possess two seed leaves.
• Dicots store most of their food within the developing cotyledons
(seed leaves).
Angiosperm Classification
• angiosperms can be classified in a
number of ways
• Flowering plants could also be
classified according to life span
(annual, biennial and perennial),
stem characteristics (herbaceous vs
woody), and a multitude of other
traits.
Classification information illustrating the wide diversity
of species within flowering plants (not for studying!).
• Subclasses within liliopsida, the monocots, are:
• Alismatidae (~500 species): includes flowering rushes, arrowhead and eel
grass
• Commelinidae (~19,000 species): includes yellow-eyed grass, sedges, cattails,
pineapple and banana
• Arecidae (~6,500 species): includes palm, duckweed and philodendron
• Liliidae (~28,000 species): includes lilies, irises and orchids
Dicot Subclasses
• Subclasses within magnoliopsida, the dicots, are:
• Magnoliidae (~11,000 species): includes magnolias, laurel, pepper, water lily,
buttercup and poppy
• Hamamelidae (~3,500 species): includes elm, walnut, birch and sweet gale
• Caryophyllidae (~11,000 species): includes cacti, pink, knotweed and leadwort
• Dilleniidae (~24,000 species): includes peony, tea, mallow, sundew, violet,
willow, mustard and primrose
• Rosidae (~6,000 species): includes roses, loosestrife, dogwood, grape, maple,
geranium and ginseng
• Asteridae (~56,000 species): includes asters, milkweed, phlox, mint, harebell,
honeysuckle and sunflower
Plant Tropisms and Adaptations
• One of the seven characteristics of life is "irritability", or in simpler
terms, an ability to respond to stimuli in the environment.
• The responses of plants to external stimuli are referred to
as tropisms.
• Response to light = phototropism
• response to gravity = gravitropism or geotropism
• response to touch = thigmotropism
• response to chemical stimulus from outside of the organism = chemotropism
• direction of growth is determined by water concentration = hydrotropism
Plant Tropisms and Adaptations
• Tropisms are controlled mostly by hormones (chemicals) within the
bodies of the plants.
• For example, auxin (a growth hormone) contributes to cell
elongation in the tips of stems and roots.
• New shoots of recently germinated seeds grow upwards, against
the force of gravity;
• roots grow downwards, with gravity.
Plant Tropisms and Adaptations
• Some plants respond quickly to
touch.
• Example: The leaves of the mimosa
plant close up as soon as they are
touched.
• It is a sudden change in osmotic pressure
near the base of the leaves that causes
this quick response.
• The movement of insect eating plants,
such as sundew or Venus fly trap,
works in much the same way.
Plant Tropisms and Adaptations
• Plants also respond in often complex ways to periods of light and
darkness—this is photoperiodism.
• Flowering and growth in plants depends on photoperiodism.
• Different plants are adapted to different photoperiods.
• Most plant species enter a period of dormancy during winter months,
where life processes slow down greatly (or completely stop!).
• Example: a deciduous tree undergoes changes in preparation for winter:
leaves are eventually dropped (photosynthesis halts), and water and starch is
transported down into the root system.
Plant Tropisms and Adaptations
• Structural and physiological adaptations allow plants to inhabit nearly every
corner of the globe.
• Some species are adapted for specific temperatures (hot or cold climates) or
levels of moisture;
• some for varying degrees of salinity;
• some for wide ranges of oxygen availability;
• others for particular nutritional needs.
• The time-lapse photography brings the topic of plant tropisms to life in both sites
below:
• plant tropisms and hormones
• short video clips of other tropisms
Plant Tropisms and Adaptations
• Plant tropisms, in combination with the many adaptations to their
specific habitats, enable plants to maintain an internal balance—a
state of homeostasis—that ensures their survival in diverse, and
often, severe environments.
3f--Activity: Flowering Plant Trivia
3g--Assignment & Lab: Flowering Plants