BIO 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Phylogenetics, Stoma, Mitosis
Document Summary
Major examples and groups of land plants we discuss: Character state changes associated with invasion of land. Benefit: like a skin, it prevents water loss and dessication (drying out) and helps with uv light protection (sunblock) Ca(cid:374)"t a(cid:271)sor(cid:271) water through (cid:272)uti(cid:272)le - one less mechanism to obtain water. Hole that can open and close in cuticle. Vascular plants (tree ferns very big): 275 feet tall. More plants, bigger plants, use more co2. Vas(cid:272)ular tissue, (cid:271)ig pla(cid:374)ts, fossil forests (cid:272)oal. Forests with very large plants were possible because of the new character state of vascular tissue. These forests were buried, and formed coal, which we burn today (and we release the co2 sucked up by these ancient plants millions of years. Coal has more matter per unit volume than wood. Burning coal produces more co2 than burning wood. Plants are mostly carbon; when we burn them, co2 is released. Coal is fossil carbon (plant material) that we burn for energy.
