Can anyone help me with my Biology?

Question

I was reading my ecology book and there was one part that i didnt understand. English is not my first language so its really hard for me to understand. Can anyone explain to me more easier?

"The recognition that the form and function of plants within a region reflected the constraints imposed by the physical environment led the way for a new generation of scientists that explored the relationship between plant biology and plant geography."

Thanks!

Answer 1

it's talking about evolution from a plant species. these plants evolved into different species because of allopatric speciation - this means they evolved because of their geographic isolation.

I THINK...

well..i'm actually really confused now...

Answer 2

"The recognition that the form and function of plants within a region reflected the constraints imposed by the physical environment"

This means that how a plant looks and works (physiologically) is an adaptation to the environment it lives in.  A plant in the desert, for example, might either have large fleshy leaves (succulent) or very thin needle-like leaves, both of these being adaptations to conserve water.

The rest means that once people realized that plants are adapted to their environment, and that a particular environment is in a specific area, we were able to begin studying how plants are distributed based on their biology.  Another way to put it is I could be handed a plant, and since I know certain things about what plants from different environments are like I could predict where that plant came from.  Or, given a particular kind of habitat in a new place, I could predict what the plants there will look like.

Answer 3

They are basically describing evolution and adaptation.  They are saying that plants have characteristics that seem to work very well with their environment.  Based on this, it seems that plant structure and physiology are directly tied to the environment in which they are found.  Therefore, plants at high cold, elevations are short and compact, and plants in the dessert have few leaves and store water, etc.