Final answer:
Freshwater and saltwater plants have unique adaptations for water conservation and osmotic balance. Freshwater plants, for instance, minimize water loss and regulate solute concentrations, whereas saltwater halophytes have root filters for salinity challenges. Likewise, freshwater and saltwater fish have contrasting strategies to maintain osmotic homeostasis.
Step-by-step explanation:
Freshwater and saltwater plants have adapted to their unique environments in various ways to conserve water and maintain osmotic balance.
Plants in freshwater biomes have evolved to cope with low salt levels through adaptations such as excreting dilute urine to regulate solute concentrations within their cells and decrease water loss.
On the other hand, saltwater plants, or halophytes, can handle the high saline conditions often found in estuaries, where salt and fresh water mix.
These halophytes may have specialized filters in their roots to remove salt or pump oxygen into their roots to cope with the salinity.
Similarly, animals like freshwater fish actively take in salt through their gills and excrete dilute urine to maintain osmotic balance in hypotonic environments.
In contrast, saltwater fish do the reverse, by secreting salt through their gills and excreting highly concentrated urine to adapt to hypertonic surroundings.