Plant Diversity Midterm 2
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Q: What are the synapomorphies of monocots?
A: One cotyledon, parallel venation, scattered vascular bundles, fibrous roots, floral parts in multiples of 3
Q: Why are parallel veins considered a synapomorphy in monocots?
A: Because they are a derived trait shared by all monocots and indicate a common evolutionary origin
Q: How would you identify a monocot using stem anatomy?
A: Look for scattered vascular bundles instead of a ring arrangement
Q: What is the difference between synapomorphies and additional traits in monocots?
A: Synapomorphies are shared derived traits in all members, while additional traits are common but not universal
Q: Why are monocots ecologically dominant worldwide?
A: Because grasses dominate ecosystems and are highly productive, resilient to grazing, and widespread
Q: Which plant family is most important within monocots and why?
A: Poaceae, because it includes major crops like wheat, rice, and corn
Q: What proportion of angiosperms are eudicots?
Approximately 75 percent
Q: Why are eudicots considered evolutionarily successful?
A: They have diversified extensively and dominate most plant communities
Q: What defines a Pentapetalae flower structure?
A: Five sepals, five petals, distinct whorls, often with fused structures
Q: How does fusion of floral parts benefit plants?
A: It improves pollination efficiency by guiding pollinators more effectively
Q: What are the two major clades of Pentapetalae?
A: Rosids and Asterids
Q: Which clade contains most tree species and why?
A: Rosids, because they dominate forest ecosystems globally
Q: What are the defining traits of ANA grade flowers?
A: Many spirally arranged parts, undifferentiated organs, numerous stamens and carpels
Q: Why are ANA grade flowers considered primitive?
A: They retain ancestral traits with little specialization
Q: What is the evolutionary trend in number of floral parts?
A: Reduction in number over time
Q: Why is bilateral symmetry advantageous in flowers?
A: It increases pollinator specificity and efficiency
Q: What is synorganization in flowers?
A: The fusion or integration of floral parts into functional units
Q: How does synorganization affect pollination success?
A: It increases precision of pollen transfer between plants
Q: What is pollination?
A: Transfer of pollen from anther to stigma
Q: Why is pollination not the same as fertilization?
A: Pollination is pollen transfer, while fertilization is fusion of gametes
Q: What are pollination syndromes?
A: Suites of floral traits adapted to specific pollinators
Q: Give an example of a pollination syndrome and its traits
A: Bee pollination involves bright colors, nectar, and scent
Q: What are the six types of pollinator rewards?
A: Nectar, pollen, oils, resins, fragrances, and heat
Q: Why do plants offer rewards to pollinators?
A: To ensure consistent visitation and pollen transfer
Q: What traits are typical of wind-pollinated plants?
A: No petals, no scent, large pollen production, feathery stigmas
Q: Why do wind-pollinated plants produce large amounts of pollen?
A: Because pollination is random and inefficient
Q: What is autogamy?
A: Self-fertilization within the same flower
Q: What is geitonogamy?
A: Self-fertilization between different flowers on the same plant
Q: What is the advantage of selfing?
A: Guaranteed reproduction without pollinators
Q: What is the disadvantage of selfing?
A: Reduced genetic diversity and inbreeding depression
Q: What is a chasmogamous flower?
A: An open flower that allows cross-pollination
Q: What is a cleistogamous flower?
A: A closed flower that self-pollinates
Q: Why do some plants produce both chasmogamous and cleistogamous flowers?
A: To balance genetic diversity and reproductive assurance
Q: What is herkogamy?
A: Spatial separation of reproductive organs to prevent selfing
Q: What is dichogamy?
A: Temporal separation of male and female function
Q: What is protandry?
A: Male function occurs first
Q: What is protogyny?
A: Female function occurs first
Q: What is enantiostyly?
A: Left-right positioning of styles to promote cross-pollination
Q: What is sporophytic incompatibility?
A: Compatibility determined by the parent plant genotype
Q: What is gametophytic incompatibility?
A: Compatibility determined by the pollen genotype
Q: What are examples of vegetative reproduction?
A: Runners, rhizomes, tubers, bulbs
Q: What is agamospermy?
A: Asexual reproduction through seeds without fertilization
Q: Why are forests important globally?
A: They store carbon, regulate climate, and support biodiversity
Q: How does transpiration influence climate?
A: It drives water movement into the atmosphere, affecting rainfall
Q: Why are mangroves ecologically important?
A: They protect coastlines, support biodiversity, and store carbon
Q: How do nitrogen-fixing bacteria benefit plants?
A: They convert atmospheric nitrogen into usable forms
Q: What is the benefit of mycorrhizae to plants?
A: Increased phosphorus uptake through fungal networks
Q: What is a mycoheterotroph?
A: A plant that obtains carbon from fungi instead of photosynthesis
Q: What three organisms are involved in mycoheterotrophy?
A: The plant, fungus, and a photosynthetic host plant
Q: Which plant family is second to Poaceae in economic importance?
A: Fabaceae
Q: Why are legumes important agriculturally?
A: They fix nitrogen and improve soil fertility
Q: Why are grasslands important ecosystems?
A: They support biodiversity, agriculture, and cover large land areas
Q: What maintains grasslands instead of forests?
A: Fire, grazing, and environmental conditions
Q: Why does grazing promote biodiversity in grasslands?
A: It prevents dominance of a few species and allows diversity
Q: What is extinction debt?
A: Delayed species extinction following habitat loss
Q: What are the three characteristics of carnivorous plant habitats?
A: Nutrient-poor, high light, and wet conditions
Q: Why do carnivorous plants evolve in nutrient-poor environments?
A: To obtain nutrients like nitrogen from prey
Q: Why is carnivory advantageous despite being energy costly?
A: Because light and water are abundant, but nutrients are limiting
Q: What plant structures are modified in carnivorous plants?
A: Leaves are modified into traps
Q: What are domatia?
A: Plant structures that house organisms such as ants
Q: How do domatia benefit plants?
A: They provide protection and nutrient exchange through symbiosis
Q: How do ants benefit from domatia?
A: They receive shelter and food resources from the plant
The type of a biome is determined by three parameters that constrain plant growth. These are:
Temperature, Precipitation, Days > 0°
Each organ of the flower is a modification of what plant organ?
Leaf
When a central axis of a plant or one of its lateral shoots becomes reproductive, growth becomes:
Determinate
The earliest flowering plants had which type of pollen (defined by the number and type of opening through which pollen tubes emerge)?
Monosulcate
TRUE or FALSE: The fossil record suggests that the earliest flowering plants had compound leaves.
False
Which type of xylem cell is found only in angiosperms AND what advantage to angiosperms does it provide?
Vessel or vessel element
Increased rates of water movement (and thus higher rates of photosynthesis)
The first flowering plants were most like a plant:
With magnolia-like flowers
List four types of reward that pollinators receive from plants.
Pollen
Nectar
Oil
Scent
Anthers that shed pollen through terminal pores enable what type of pollination process?
Buzz pollination
The earliest pollinators of flowering plants were which ONE of the following?
Insects
During the Cretaceous, the proportions of angiosperm species in the fossil record with large fruits or seeds increased. What process was likely to be enhanced by these increases?
Animal Dispersal
Which of the following traits are typical of flowers of plants in the ANA grade?
Tepals only
Indeterminate number of parts
Unisexual or bisexual
Stamens not differentiated into anther and filament
Carpels distinct
Ovaries Superior