189k views
1 vote
In the winter, icy roads are often salted to remove the ice and make them less slippery. grasses and other herbaceous plants often die near the side of these roads. what causes this to happen?

User Aboodrak
by
8.8k points

2 Answers

5 votes

Grass often dies near roads that have been salted to remove ice in winter because salt has spread to the grass cover. Then the water goes into the ice, because the grass is attracted to the salty ice water. Consequently, it dehydrates the plant cell, removing excess water, so it dies, as it can no longer perform the proper function of the cell.

User Miatta
by
8.0k points
3 votes
Grass often dies near roads that have been salted to remove ice during the winter because the salt spread out into layer of the grass cell. Then the water goes into the ice because the grass is attracted to the salty ice water. Hence, this dehydrates the plant cell by removing excess water, so it dies since it can no longer perform the proper cell function.
User Dhinakaran
by
7.9k points