Why Plants can’t Grow Everywhere? (with citation)

Plant is the most world-wide spread living organism. Almost 70% part of land on the earth is cover by plants. The use of plants has been recognized by people around the world, such as foods, clothes, and many variant of materials. Each region of world has much kind of plants and its special utility.

Plants is growing and developing during all the time, until it could not be again. A plant growing includes height and weight increases, protoplasm increases, respiration, and also photosynthesis. A plant developing is about cell differentiation, shows by anatomy and physiological specialization changes.

Environmental factor affected plant growth and its distribution. The environmental factors are light, temperature, and soil. If the environmental are good enough, the plants will grow well. But if the environmental less than ideal, it will inhibit grow and the distribution of the plant. For example, the hygrophyte that only live with high moisture of soil could not growth at dessert (Anonym 1, 2007). The environmental factors limit some plants to growth and distribute between region and country.

The sun as the primary energy source on earth, it is controlling all living activity and productivity. The effects of light is depend on the wavelength, between 0,4 – 0,7 millimicron-metres and its intensity. The reaction from plant due to light such as photosynthesis, phototropism, and photoperiodic, based on photochemical reaction that working by the specific pigment system. (Anonym 2, 2007)

The temperature can affect productivity and activity of plants depends on the seasons. The role of temperature is controlling a physically and chemically process that will affect the biological reaction on the plant’s body. The chemical reaction velocity is depending on temperature and enzyme stabilization. The bad temperatures also cause stunted growth and poor quality products from plants. (Anonym 2, 2007)

Soil is supplying the water and nutrition for the plants. The soil conditions such as its organic matters, mineral, moisture, microbes, soil atmosphere, and soil water are very determine the growth, development, and productivity of plants (Anonym 2, 2007). Without these components, the plants will have a stress condition, which is inhibits its productivity.

Many plants have beneficial function, either for human being or ecosystem. On each country around the world, some plants grown commercially, and some are not. It depends on how much beneficial that country can gain from its productivity, beside the environmental factors. Sometime, the economic function is a main reason why one country grown some plants and not for the other.

For example, on some countries in South-East Asia, include Indonesia use to called duckweed (Lemna minor) as a herb that altered fresh water live. But, some countries, it use for absorbing waste water and it crop use as a good cattle feed. It contains 25-45% proteins (depending on the growth conditions), 4.4% fat, and 8-10% fiber, measured by dry weight (Anonym 3, 2007). India is one of the countries that make the duckweed as one of its commodity.

Gilang Kinasihan/ 10604052

References:

Anonym 1.2007. Environmental Factors Affecting Growth. http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/botany/index.html

Anonym 2. 2007. Pertumbuhan, Perkembangan Tanaman, dan Faktor Lingkungan. http://fp.uns.ac.id/%7Ehamasains/BAB%20VIdasgro_files/filelist.xml

Anonym 3. 2007. Lemna. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemna