Life Cycle of a Nonvascular Plant
A plant's life cycles plays a pivotal role in its development and ability to adapt to an environment. In terms of evolutionary progress, nonvascular plants were the first to appear and evolve. Their basic physical structure develops in accordance with how their life cycles progress and determines the types of environments most suitable to their needs. Does this Spark an idea?
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Plant Life Cycles
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As with most other organisms, mitosis and meiosis account for much of what goes on within a nonvascular plant's life cycles, according to Estrella Mountain Community College. Mitosis is a process during which one parent cell produces two identical daughter cells. Meiosis processes involve male and female sex cells that produce a single zygote cell made up of half of the male and half of the female's chromosomes. Nonvascular plants produce spores through the meiosis process, while individual plant development takes place through mitosis processes.
Alternation of Generations
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The alternation of generations represents the reproductive life cycle all plants go through from generation to generation, according to Estrella Mountain Community College. Both asexual (mitosis) and sexual (meiosis) processes play parts in how plants reproduce and develop. Plant generations alternate between spore and plant structures because spores grow into plants and plants release spores. Nonvascular plants spend more time in the spore stages, which limits their growth potential, but vascular plants consistently alternate between spore and plant growth stages.
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Features
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Nonvascular plant types include mosses, green algae and liverworts. These types of plants rely heavily on water for structural support and reproductive processes, which is why they're typically found in or nearby a water source, according to Estrella Mountain Community College. During the meiosis stage of their life cycle, nonvascular plants use water as a mode of transport for sex cells to fertilize nearby plants. The physical make-up of nonvascular plants lacks vascular tissue. This tissue acts as a type of structural support for vascular plants. As a result, a nonvascular plant must use suction mechanisms that pull water up into the plant body, which is how it maintains an upright position.
Function
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The life cycle of a nonvascular plant consists of a sporophyte stage and a gametophyte stage, according to Cartage.org. Fertilization processes take place within the gametophyte stage when gamete sperm cells move through water to reach the egg cells housed in nearby plants. After an egg cell is fertilized, a zygote cell appears. Through mitosis, zygote cells manufacture embryonic sporophytes. This begins the sporophyte stage of the life cycle. Sporophytes eventually mature into full-grown plants that release spores onto their water-soil surroundings. Through mitosis, these spores grow into gametophytes, and a new life cycle begins.
Effects
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Vascular tissue enables seed- and flower-bearing plants to transport water and nutrients throughout the plant body. It creates a more sophisticated conducting system that accounts for the many varieties of vascular plants. In contrast, nonvascular plants are unable to bear seeds or flowers as a result of their limited life cycle processes, according to Cartage.org. This limitation also affects their ability to adapt within different environments. As a result, most nonvascular plants can only survive in damp, moist environments.
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- Photo Credit moss image by wildman from Fotolia.com
