Question

When water is removed from a material, the material will contract and change its shape and the result is a stiffer item. When water is added, the material stretches and becomes softer. How do some plants use this same principle in order to spread their seed as humidity decreases in the air?

Answer 1

Some plants disperse their seeds using contractions triggered by decreasing humidity, which causes tissues to dry out and shrink. This adaptation facilitates the spreading of seeds by using environmental changes to activate dispersal mechanisms.

Step-by-step explanation:

Some plants have evolved seed dispersal mechanisms that utilize changes in humidity to spread their seeds. As humidity decreases, the water content in certain plant tissues also decreases, causing these tissues to contract. This contraction often triggers seed dispersal. For example, some seed pods may dry and split open, effectively flinging seeds away from the parent plant. This mechanism ensures that plant offspring are not concentrated in one area, which could lead to competition for resources and increase susceptibility to disease. The same principle applies within plant physiology more broadly, where water plays a critical role in turgidity and stability, and the opening and closing of stomata to manage water loss while balancing the need for carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.