Final answer:
Water availability triggers adaptive modifications ranging from metabolic changes due to flooding and droughts in terrestrial organisms to adaptations for salinity, diffusion, and water movement in aquatic organisms.
Step-by-step explanation:
The availability of water profoundly affects the adaptive modifications of organisms. Terrestrial organisms, for instance, experience not only scarcity but also excesses of water, which can lead to a lack of oxygen and thus influence their survival and distribution. In contrast, aquatic organisms have to adapt to factors such as salinity, temperature moderation by water, availability of sunlight, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and the physical movement of water. Even the feeding habits of species like sticklebacks can alter aquatic environments, influencing other species and leading to an evolutionary response.
Adaptations to Water Availability
Tolerance of flooding and droughts leads to changes in metabolic pathways.
In aquatic environments, the challenge includes adapting to salinity and the diffusion of water.
Movement of water in ecosystems like rivers requires organisms to adapt to constant movement, while in larger bodies such as oceans, currents and tides affect the nutrients and food resources.