lindseybockover
Calm, Cloudy, Lake
Taxodium distichum, the baldcypress, was one of the new organisms that I interacted with when moving down to North Carolina. This picture was snapped one sunny warm February day on White Lake, NC. The baldcypress’ seeds, that remarkably can still germinate up to one year after dropping from a mature tree, by both water and animals. In this picture one can see a bundle of lake debris around the base of the tree. That lake rubbish is caught in the root system of the cypress which shoots out of the water near the apex of the trunk. This anomaly has puzzled scientists for years; so much so that there are many hypotheses about them. The most common reasoning for these enigmas is, because knees are more often found to be on trees that are in shallow water areas or wet ground, they might be caused by the root growing in a poorly aerated soil. We learned in class that plants use both photosynthesis and respire. Oxygen for respiration in the plants must be taken in by all plant cells in order for those cells to break down carbohydrates and get the energy it needs to grow. We talked in class about the idea that organisms possess trade-offs; an organism can not perfectly adapt to its environment. The baldcypresses likely underwent a trade-off when its’ root system to form in knees; shunting its efforts to grow large roots instead of growing many leaves. This is a trade-off all plants must undergo and find balance to in order to survive. #image2 #UNCW #bio366
arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2000-60-4-cyp...
www.growstone.com/2012/01/the-importance-of-aeration-to-s...
Calm, Cloudy, Lake
Taxodium distichum, the baldcypress, was one of the new organisms that I interacted with when moving down to North Carolina. This picture was snapped one sunny warm February day on White Lake, NC. The baldcypress’ seeds, that remarkably can still germinate up to one year after dropping from a mature tree, by both water and animals. In this picture one can see a bundle of lake debris around the base of the tree. That lake rubbish is caught in the root system of the cypress which shoots out of the water near the apex of the trunk. This anomaly has puzzled scientists for years; so much so that there are many hypotheses about them. The most common reasoning for these enigmas is, because knees are more often found to be on trees that are in shallow water areas or wet ground, they might be caused by the root growing in a poorly aerated soil. We learned in class that plants use both photosynthesis and respire. Oxygen for respiration in the plants must be taken in by all plant cells in order for those cells to break down carbohydrates and get the energy it needs to grow. We talked in class about the idea that organisms possess trade-offs; an organism can not perfectly adapt to its environment. The baldcypresses likely underwent a trade-off when its’ root system to form in knees; shunting its efforts to grow large roots instead of growing many leaves. This is a trade-off all plants must undergo and find balance to in order to survive. #image2 #UNCW #bio366
arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2000-60-4-cyp...
www.growstone.com/2012/01/the-importance-of-aeration-to-s...