Plant Adaptations
1. Bengal Bamboo
- Bengal bamboo is native to Southeast Asian rainforests where it grows in 40 to 100 degree Fahrenheit temperatures with an average of 50 to 260 inches of rainfall.
- Bengal bamboo has adapted by growing at one of the fastest rates of any plant, to 80 feet in 3 months.
- Once in the canopy, it absorbs sunlight to make its food by photosynthesis.
- Bengal bamboo adapted to the extreme hydration of the rainforest by developing vascular bundles that absorb water and wick it up the cane, drinking in enormous amounts of water.
- It also saves energy by flowering only once in its lifespan, producing seed and dying.
2. Running Bamboo
- Some bamboo species adapted to grow in temperate climates in Japan, Siberia, northern China and California.
- Plants adapted to cooler conditions by spreading underground. They create massive forests of clonal colonies from one parent.
- Aerial stems (culms) known as canes grow from underground stems called rhizomes.
- Roots are born at the nodes on the canes, where leaf like scales grow. Essentially clones, they allow the bamboo plant to spread from underground shoots.
- Black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra) is so adapted to riparian habitats in southern California it is considered an invasive aggressor
3. Mountain Bamboo
- Tropical bamboos that grow from seed in thick clumps in countries within five degrees of the equator spread with the wind.
- A few bamboo have adapted to the harsh conditions of the Himalaya and Andes mountains and can survive long, sunless days and freezing winters.
All of these bamboo plants are affected by phototropism, which means that they respond and grow towards light.
The growth of all these different bamboo species affect giants pandas because it causes them to migrate to certain areas in order to be able to eat because bamboo dies off after a certain amount of time.
The growth of all these different bamboo species affect giants pandas because it causes them to migrate to certain areas in order to be able to eat because bamboo dies off after a certain amount of time.