Seed banks needed to restore ecosystems

Importance of PlantsPlants do much more than just make our world green—they are essential to life on Earth. Plants provide us with oxygen, food, medicine, and materials like wood and cotton. They also help regulate the climate, prevent soil erosion, and support biodiversity by giving animals shelter and food. From tiny mosses to towering trees, each plant plays a part in keeping ecosystems healthy and balanced. Science and Engineering Practices (SEP): Constructing Explanations and Designing...

Secondary SuccessionSecondary succession is the natural process through which ecosystems recover after a disturbance, such as a wildfire, flood, or human activity, that doesn’t completely destroy the soil. Unlike primary succession, which starts from bare rock, secondary succession begins in areas where life previously existed, and soil remains. Grasses, shrubs, and trees gradually return, and the ecosystem moves toward stability again. Comprehending secondary succession allows us to...

Ecological succession is influenced by the processes of facilitation, inhibition, and toleration. Facilitation occurs when early successional species create more favorable ecological conditions for subsequent species, such as enhanced nutrient, water, or light availability. In contrast, inhibition happens when early successional species create unfavorable ecological conditions for potential successive species, such as limiting resource availability. In some cases, later successional species...

Seed structures are composed of a protective seed coat surrounding a plant embryo, and a food store for the developing embryo. The embryo contains the precursor tissues for leaves, stem, and roots. The endosperm and cotyledons—seed leaves—act as the food reserves for the growing embryo.

Seedless Vascular Plants Were the First Tall Plants on Earth

Measures of species biodiversity, such as richness (i.e., the number of species present) and evenness (i.e., their relative abundance), describe an ecological community’s structure. Many factors affect community structure, including abiotic factors (e.g., sunlight and nutrients), disturbances (e.g., fire or flood), species interactions (e.g., predation or competition), and chance events (e.g., foreign species invasion). Certain species—such as keystone species—also play a...