Friday, November 6, 2009

bio (1106) - MaB: plant temp. regulation

its mostly written on the sheets anyway.. but plants regulate temp in a number of ways..

in extreme heat, plants adapt bbbbyyy:

- having leaves that droop down like eucalypts, they get less direct hits from the sun.
- leaves with zig-zaggy edges lose more heat, coz edges are where the most heat is lost. zigzaggy edges lose more heat coz of higher length to surface area ratio
- heat is lost naturally through radiation and transpiration
- there are heat-shock proteins in some plants that protect the enzymes
- some plants actually drop leaves during summer

in extreme cold, they adapt bbbbyyyy:

- some plants have anti-freeze systems, ie. the cells are highly concentrated and so difficult to freeze.
- some plants dont release seeds until the temperature is warm enough
- some plants just die completely, then regenerate when its time

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