And toward the sun, which kindlier burns,
The earth awaking, looks and yearns,
And still, as in all other Aprils,
The annual miracle returns.
-Elizabeth Akers
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Value of
Plants
Plants are often valued directly for what we
can build with them, their ability to provide us with
nutrition or their appearance. However, plants also
serve a critical role in our ecosystem as the primary
producers - converting raw solar energy into food for animals,
and of course humans too. By hydrolyzing water molecules
during photosynthesis plants "breathe out" oxygen,
the very gas that animals need for survival. Plants also help
purify the polluted air of our cities and our homes.
(read more ...)
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Although many forests are
valued based on the price for lumber,
forests are worth more than the sum of their trees.
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Types of
Plants
Looking at any vegetated area the flora can be divided into
groupings by the level to which they typically grow.
Trees are usually the tallest plants and can grow to hundreds
of feet in height and live for thousands of years. Lower in
the vegetation are woody stemmed plants that typically grow
only in the understory of a forest, and even when they are
found elsewhere never grow more than about fifteen feet in
height. Finally, the forest floor can be covered by
wildflowers that life one or more years. There are numerous
"other" types of plants including ferns, mosses, and
cacti that defy consistent classification, but deserve
mention.
Some plants have been identified by people as being special
for their abilities to bear edible crops or for their
distinctive and attractive appearances. These plants
have often diverged greatly from their natural relatives and
can be divided into those sought for the value as food and
those relished for their visual appeal.
(read more ...)
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Plant Extinctions and Declines
Plants have many advantages over animals in
species survival. Many plants can survive for long
periods of time as seeds. However, plants are not nearly as
nimble as animals and cannot migrate when weather
changes. Changes in rain or temperature can cause a
population to dwindle or go extinct. However, the
largest causes of plant extinction are 1) introduction of
disease, and 2) changes in habitat.
(read more ...)
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As wetlands are filled and
fires suppressed, habitat is lost and many plants, including the
carnivorous Pitcher plants are in danger of going extinct.
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Human Impacts on
Plants
People have had tremendous direct impacts on
plants. By harvesting trees for lumber forests have
often been simplified with many "old growth"
habitats and species being lost. Cultivation of plants
has led to the narrowing of genetic diversity, leaving plants
with little if any ability to respond to novel diseases and
other changes. Landscaping has led to nearly sterile
environments around our homes where trees grow, but no fruit
or seeds appear and thus no wildlife. By tinkering with the
flora, we have endangered wildlife, and possibly our own
survival.
(read more ...)
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In our search for the
perfect flower people have literally "created" new
varieties of plants. These sunflowers are much larger than those
found in the wild.
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The Conservation of
Plants
Different species typically require different
methods of conservation. There are three primary ways
people have tried to conserve, restore and protect plants:
While there is much discussion about which
single conservation method is best for wildlife, there is
considerable value in using a diversity of approaches and
techniques for protecting the flora.
(read more
...)
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Stumps are all that is left
of many Giant Sequoias cut in the 1890's. Without the
transpiration of these giant trees the water table in this
meadow has risen and today only grass grows here.
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