Over Time...
Temperature can be defined as the degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment. Temperature dictates what organisms can survive in different environments, with different plants able to survive in different climates.
The plants I used in my mesocosm are tropical, and thus thrive in higher temperature, higher humidity environments. Within limits, rates of photosynthesis and respiration both rise with increasing temperatures. As temperatures reach the upper growing limits for the plant, the rate of energy used by respiration may exceed the rate at which energy is manufactured by photosynthesis. |
Humidity is important to an ecosystems sustainability. In particular, plants are reliant on a balanced amount of humidity in the air for plant transpiration and growth.
Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air. As a plant transpires (give off water vapour through the stomata), the humidity immediately surrounding the leaves will become saturated with water vapour. The entire plant transpiration cycle is controlled by evaporation, so when gasses surrounding a leaf become saturated with water vapour (100% humidity), there is no place for the next molecule of water vapour to evaporate to. This means that water vapour will not evaporate, so water does not get transport from the root zone. This means that nutrients also do not travel throughout the plant. If nutrients are not being taken up, then plant growth is hindered. Hence, the importance of humidity in the plant life cycle, and thus the survival of biotic organisms in an ecosystem, is not to be underestimated. |