Plants are the base of any ecosystem because they create organic matter from mineral matter and light, in the process of photosynthesis. Where there is organic matter, living organisms can develop and an ecosystem can take place.
Plants take on a variety of roles, depending on the ecosystem. In areas with loose or sandy soil they keep the soil anchored. That’s why the Dust Bowl in the United States was so devastating. The top soil, the most nutrient part, literally blew away as the plants died from the drought. They can also provide food sources for animals, in the form of fruits and seeds, as well as leaves and shoots. They also provide a place to hide from predators, or a place for animals to lay eggs or to live in. Plants also provide nutrients when they decompose, as all living things do. Even aquatic habitats benefit from plants, for many of the same reasons.
Plants are the most important part of the ecosystem, their role is as follows:
Plants make food
Plants are the only organisms that can convert light energy from the sun into food. And plants produce ALL of the food that animals, including people, eat. Even meat. The animals that give us meat, such as chickens and cows, eat grass, oats, corn, or some other plants.
Plants make oxygen
One of the materials that plants produce as they make food is oxygen gas. This oxygen gas, which is an important part of the air, is the gas that plants and animals must have in order to stay alive. When people breathe, it is the oxygen that we take out of the air to keep our cells and bodies alive. All of the oxygen available for living organisms comes from plants.
Plants provide habitats for animals
Plants are the primary habitat for thousands of other organisms. Animals live in, on, or under plants. Plants provide shelter and safety for animals. Plants also provide a place for animals to find other food. As a habitat, plants alter the climate. On a small scale, plants provide shade, help moderate the temperature, and protect animals from the wind. On a larger scale, such as in tropical rainforests, plants actually change the rainfall patterns over large areas of the earth’s surface.
Plants help make and preserve soil
In the forest and the prairie, the roots of plants help hold the soil together. This reduces erosion and helps conserve the soil. Plants also help make soil. Soil is made up of lots of particles of rocks which are broken down into very small pieces. When plants die, their decomposed remains are added to the soil. This helps to make the soil rich with nutrients.
Plants provide useful products for people
Many plants are important sources of products that people use, including food, fibers (for cloth), and medicines. Plants also help provide some of our energy needs. In some parts of the world, wood is the primary fuel used by people to cook their meals and heat their homes. Many of the other types of fuel we use today, such as coal, natural gas, and gasoline, were made from plants that lived millions of years ago.
Plants beautify
Plants, because of their beauty, are important elements of out human world. When we build houses and other buildings, we never think the job is done until we have planted trees, shrubs, and flowers to make what we have built much nicer.
Green plants provide natural cooling. Leaves block the heating effect of the sun. Green plants can also cool through transpiration, although without large numbers of trees and other plants this effect is minimal. Transpiration is the process by which water evaporates from plant pores, cooling the environment via evaporative cooling. Evaporation consumes heat and is most effective for cooling when the humidity is low. Plants also stabilize the soil through their roots, which bind soils, and through their leaves, which keep raindrops from eroding soils. Areas without adequate vegetative cover often suffer from large quantities of sediment washing into streams and lakes, diminishing water quality.
India is one of the most populated and polluted country. The logic being, when there are more people, there are more resource consumption. To control Air Pollution, planting more and more trees is the most effective & economy way. Every citizen can play an important role to save enviournment by planting and taking care of trees.
