This document discusses plant biodiversity and summarizes key information about different types of plants and climatic zones for plant growth. It defines biodiversity and estimates the number of known plant species. It describes plant adaptations and the role of botanical gardens in conservation. It also summarizes the naming system for plants developed by Linnaeus and describes the main groups of flowering and non-flowering plants, including gymnosperms, angiosperms, mosses and ferns. Finally, it characterizes different climatic zones suitable for plant growth, such as rainforests, deserts and temperate zones.

1. FIELD STUDY ON PLANTS
PLANT BIODIVERSITY

2. INTRODUCTION
• Biodiversity is the total variability within and among species of all living organisms
and their habitats.
• It is estimated that there are between 300,000 and 500,000 species of higher
plants of which 250,000 have been identified or described.
• The diversity of plant life exists for many reasons-a key factor being adaptive
changes which allow different species to thrive in the many varied environments
of the world.
• Plants have developed adaptations for different soil types, methods of pollination,
daylight hours, temperature, altitude, competition with other plants. This list is
endless, even two plants of the same species, separated by geography will have a
different genetic make-up.
• Botanic gardens are well placed to play an important role in combining biodiversity
loss. Not only they can cultivate plants which may endangered in their natural
habitats, but they can highlight the importance of plant diversity and the need for
conservation to the more than 200 million visitors they receive globally each year.

3. NAMING SYSTEM OF PLANTS
• Professional plant taxonomists assign a unique scientific name to each plant.
• The naming system was invented by the Swedish botanist Linnaeus in the 1700's.
It is based on the science of taxonomy, and uses a hierarchical system called
binomial nomenclature.
• Taxonomy is the classification of organisms. Plant and animal taxonomy is
arranged in a hierarchy, from the broadest level of phylum down to the most
specific species:
 Phylum or Division
 Class
 Order
 Family
 Genus
 Species

4. TYPES OF PLANTS
• Plants can be divided into two groups
 Flowering Plants
 Non Flowering plants
• Flowering Plants – Sun Flowers, Orchids and
most types of tree
• Non Flowering Plants – Mosses, Ferns
• All plants make their own food taking the energy
from sunlight

6. FLOWERING PLANTS
GYMNOSPERMS:
• Gymnosperms, as compared with other plant phyla, include the tallest,
the thickest, and the oldest living plants. They are widely distributed in
the planet but dominate the temperate and arctic regions.
• Members of this phylum include pines, hemlocks, firs, and spruces, which
all are characterized by having wood, and green needle-like or scale-like
foliage.
• The name “gymnosperm” literally means “naked seed“, which is exhibited
by the members by having cones (strobilus) instead of seeds to
reproduce.
• Gymnosperms are good sources of wood and paper. Aside from that, they
provide food and habitat for animals and in return these animals become
important in the dispersal of their propagules.

7. Sago Palm

8. FLOWERING PLANTS
ANGIOSPERMS:
Angiosperms, also referred to as the flowering plants, are the most diverse plant
phylum with at least 260,000 living plant species.
• Angiosperms display a vast diversity of plants as they include trees, herbs, shrubs,
bulbs, epiphytes (parasitic plants), and plants living in both marine and freshwater
habitats.
• The largest families in this phylum are the Orchidaceae (family of
orchids), Asteraceae (family of daisies), and Fabaceae (family of legumes).
• Despite their diversity, this phylum is united by several distinguishing
characteristics:
– Ovules/seeds that are enclosed within the carpel/fruit.
– Double fertilization, which is the process that leads to the formation of
the nutritive tissue called the endosperm.
– Male reproductive tissue composed of two pairs of pollen sacs and many
more.

9. Water Lily Cosmos Flower Sun Flower
Angiosperm Seed

10. NON FLOWERING PLANTS
MOSSES:
• Mosses are a phylum of non-vascular plants. They produce spores for
reproduction instead of seeds and don’t grow flowers, wood or true roots.
Instead of roots, all species of moss have rhizoids. The mosses sit within a
division of plants called the Bryophyta under the sub-division Musci.
• Mosses have spread all around the world and are found in wet
environments such as rainforests, wetlands and alpine ecosystems. They
are also common in urban areas with a wet climate and often establish on
driveways, sidewalks, brick walls and other man-made structures. Mosses
require water to reproduce which is why they struggle to survive in drier
climates.

11. NON FLOWERING PLANTS
FERNS:
Fern, any of several non flowering vascular plants that possess
true roots, stems and complex leaves and that reproduce by spores. The number
of known extant fern species is about 10,500, but estimates have ranged as high as
15,000, the number varying because certain groups are as yet poorly studied and
because new species are still being found in unexplored tropical areas. The
ferns constitute an ancient division of vascular plants, some of them as old as
the Carboniferous Period (beginning about 358.9 million years ago) and perhaps
older. Their type of life cycle, dependent upon spores for dispersal, long preceded
the seed-plant life cycle. Another informal name for the group, monilophytes, has
gained currency in modern botanical literature.

12. CLIMATIC ZONES FOR PLANT
GROWTH
There are different climatic zones suitable for growth of
different plants:
• Rain forests and tropical climate zone
• Deserts and the arid climate zone
• Temperate climate zone

13. RAIN FORESTS AND TROPICAL CLIMATE ZONE
• Warm, modest fluctuations between day and night
• High humidity and much rain, during all parts of the year
• Modest seasonality
• Little to no variation in day length throughout the year
• Water is generally abundant, in fact sometimes there is way too much
• Sunlight is reasonably abundant in higher strategy but not near ground level
• Tropical soil is poor in nutrients
Bromeliads Orchids
Some more examples: Palm Trees, Victoria Amazonica, Fig trees

14. DESERTS AND THE ARID ZONE
• Substantially daily temperature fluctuations, cold (but not freezing) to
very hot
• Extremely dry most of the year, low humidity
• As a consequence during parts of the year. They pronounced seasonality
with a brief rainy season and a long dry season
Cactus Desert Biome

15. TEMPERATE CLIMATE ZONE
• Significant daily temperature fluctuations
• Substantial seasonal temperature fluctuations depending on
the region
• Water availability fluctuates during the year
• Soil quality is poor to extremely good
Mustards Grasses

16. MEASURES TO PROTECT PLANT BIODIVERSITY
• Help native pollinators
• Reduce or eliminate pesticides and fertilizers
• Restore habitat in your community
• Reuse and recycle
• Reduce the energy demand
• Advocate for Biodiversity