In this report I am going to discuss the adaptations of 3 plants groups: xerophytes, hydrophytes and mesophytes relating to plant water balance and I will discuss how these adaptations allow the plant to survive in it's ecological niche. An ecological niche can be defined as the way of life of an organism in it's ecosystem, which allow it to survive and live successfully. 1Each of the three plant groups listed above have different ecological niches for example: xerophytes are able to survive in dry and humid conditions such as deserts, mesophytes can survive in habitats that experience both wet and dry conditions such as fields, meadows or shaded areas such as forests and hydrophytes are adapted to survive in aquatic environments where there is lots of water such as ponds. 2The xerophyte that I will be discussing in my report is the cactus, the mesophyte that I will be discussing in my report is the rose and the hydrophyte that I will be discussing in my report is the water lily. .
Transpiration is the process in which plants lose water from the leaves through the process of evaporation. 3The main organs of the plant that are involved in transpiration include the: roots, vascular tissue, stomata and the cuticle. The roots are important for transpiration because the root hairs absorb water and dissolved nutrients in the water from the soil. The vascular tissue contains xylem cells, which are important for transpiration because the xylem cells allow the water to move against gravity to reach the uppermost leaves in the plant. The stomata are important for transpiration because they contain guard cells that control the amount of water that can enter and exit the plant. This is important because in hot conditions the guard cells close up and becomes turgid to prevent water loss because they cannot afford to lose too much water to the environment and in cold conditions the guard cells open up and lose water so they become flaccid.