Without plants, life on Earth would be impossible. Why without plants, life on earth would be impossible Accumulation of organic matter

The importance of plants in nature and human life. As we know, all humans and animals breathe oxygen and emit carbon dioxide. The amount of carbon dioxide in the air also increases from burning fuel. And plants, in turn, absorb carbon dioxide from the air in the light and release oxygen.

In addition, plants enrich the air with oxygen, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide. Due to the fact that oxygen is a necessary component for the life of people and animals, life on Earth without green plants would be impossible.

To enrich cities and villages with oxygen - avenues, boulevards, streets, etc. plant trees. People plant trees, shrubs, equip parks, boulevards, flower beds, lawns. In general, in any city on the planet, they try to plant as many plants as possible, which are so necessary to maintain the health of the population. Given that plants absorb carbon dioxide, they also release oxygen and some gaseous substances into the air, which trap dust and destroy microbes that are harmful to health.

Therefore, we must take care of the protection of our plants, each leaf and increase green spaces, or rather, do not forget to plant new plants, take care of them, and protect them from damage.

The importance of plants in the formation of organic substances in them also plays an important role. Green plants create organic matter, and people and animals for their nutrition receive them ready-made from green plants. people grow cultivated plants in order to further harvest fruits, vegetables, grains, etc. and eat them, prepare them for the winter. And for farm animals they collect grains, silage, which are also necessary for the life of animals, because they contain nutritious organic substances. Animals could not exist without green plants, as they feed on ready-made organic substances that are formed in them.

In large meadows, you can also find many useful organic substances that are used as livestock feed. To do this, they drive cattle to pastures or mow grass and collect hay. But mowing must be done at the very beginning of the flowering of grasses, because at this time the plants contain the most succulent nutrients. If mowing is carried out during flowering or fruiting, then the grasses become coarser, and their nutritional quality is significantly reduced.

As a result, we can say that the importance of plants in nature and human life plays a very important role. Because green plants provide people with food, raw materials for industry, and feed for farm animals.

Plants play a huge role in the existence of our planet, as well as the direct existence of life on Earth. However, why is it impossible to live on Earth without plants, because, it would seem, the absence of trees in dense urban areas and modern megacities only affects the fact that the areas become not quite comfortable, and also do not have places for recreation. We will look into this issue today.

4 reasons why life on Earth is impossible without plants

Oxygen production

Ever since school, most of us remember that plants serve people and the entire globe by producing oxygen. However, most people are quite skeptical about this fact, not thinking that such “help” from plants can be significant. However, if you look at the actual data, you can find out that only one single tree is capable of releasing such an amount of oxygen during the day, which will be enough for three people to live throughout the same day. Now imagine how much oxygen a whole forest or even a small forest belt produces per day / per month / per year.

Absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2)

Another important function for which plants are responsible on our planet is the absorption of carbon dioxide. Of all the objects present on Earth, it is plants that are able to perform such a “work” and cleanse our atmosphere of unusable CO2 gases, because if its level in the atmosphere exceeded allowable norms, all this would lead to an unfavorable outcome for all living things.

soil formation

Do not forget that plants are directly involved in the process of soil formation. And this is one of the most important processes taking place on our planet, because without it we would not have such fertile lands, and could not grow all the products we need, vegetables and fruits, plants used in medicine and pharmacology.

Animal world

Finally, you need to pay attention to the animal world, because it also could not exist without plants on Earth. The fact is that many animals, including wild ones, eat plants, being herbivores. That is, if there was no food for them on the planet, they would simply die out. However, plants and predatory animals are also affected, because they, in turn, feed on other representatives of the animal kingdom, which, as we have already said, would not exist without plants. Accordingly, extinction would have awaited predators.

That is why life on Earth is impossible without plants.

Why is life on Earth impossible without plants? and got the best answer

Answer from Yatiana Zakharova[guru]

Answer from Natalia Li-yun (Fedyaeva)[newbie]
having flown, people chose it precisely because of them

Answer from Samwella[guru]
because plants produce oxygen, animals feed on them and give fruits to people.

Answer from Milena Marlow.[guru]
We need oxygen and photosynthesis, plants produce oxygen.

Answer from Anastasia Serebryakova[newbie]
Plants are the first step in the food chain

Answer from Siatkoq Karomel[newbie]
Vegetation is also of great importance as a source of oxygen, without which life on Earth is impossible. Green plants release a huge amount of oxygen into the atmosphere.
One medium-sized tree releases as much oxygen per day as three people need to breathe. And how much does one hectare of forest, a whole forest area, all the forests of the world give off!
Green plants play an extremely important role in yet another respect: they, and only they, are capable of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on a large scale and, consequently, preventing its accumulation in the air shell of our planet. An increase in carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere would have the most detrimental consequences.
Many examples can be cited showing how great is the role of vegetation cover in the life of nature. Without the participation of vegetation, the process of soil formation is impossible - one of the most important processes occurring on Earth. Without plants, the life of wild animals is impossible - not only herbivores, but also predators. The vegetation cover prevents the erosion of the banks of rivers and mountain slopes, the blowing of sands, etc. Vegetation affects the atmosphere and soil, groundwater and animal world, streams and rivers, lakes and swamps. In other words, it is a powerful natural factor, the importance of which can hardly be overestimated.

Answer from Ekaterina Derevskaya[newbie]
During photosynthesis, oxygen is produced. The most important autotrophs

Answer from Waa qqe[newbie]
Plants produce oxygen, animals, birds and humans feed on them.
(Mayorova Polina 3rd grade)

Answer from Ўliya Uvsyukova[newbie]
Plants provide living organisms with air. (humans, animals, insects)

Answer from Maxim Pashinin[active]
Plants provide oxygen.

Answer from Yeoanya Kim[newbie]
Plants have a pigment capable of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen without plants, we would suffocate.

Answer from Larisa Trashyan[newbie]
Plants are also undoubtedly a source of organic matter for humans and animals. For example, sugar, and starch, which in turn is the most important source of carbohydrates for humans and animals.

Answer from Matvey Gorev[newbie]
Medicines are made from plants

Answer from Lilya Artem[newbie]
Vegetation is also of great importance as a source of oxygen, without which life on Earth is impossible. Green plants release a huge amount of oxygen into the atmosphere.
One medium-sized tree releases as much oxygen per day as three people need to breathe. And how much does one hectare of forest, a whole forest area, all the forests of the world give off!
Green plants play an extremely important role in yet another respect: they, and only they, are capable of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on a large scale and, consequently, preventing its accumulation in the air shell of our planet. An increase in carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere would have the most detrimental consequences.
Many examples can be cited showing how great is the role of vegetation cover in the life of nature. Without the participation of vegetation, the process of soil formation is impossible - one of the most important processes occurring on Earth. Without plants, the life of wild animals is impossible - not only herbivores, but also predators. The vegetation cover prevents the erosion of the banks of rivers and mountain slopes, the fluttering of sands, etc. Vegetation affects the atmosphere and soil, groundwater and wildlife, streams and rivers, lakes and swamps. In other words, it is a powerful natural factor, the importance of which can hardly be overestimated.

Answer from Liza kovaleva[newbie]
Vegetation is also of great importance as a source of oxygen, without which life on Earth is impossible. Green plants release a huge amount of oxygen into the atmosphere.
One medium-sized tree releases as much oxygen per day as three people need to breathe. And how much does one hectare of forest, a whole forest area, all the forests of the world give off!
Green plants play an extremely important role in yet another respect: they, and only they, are capable of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on a large scale and, consequently, preventing its accumulation in the air shell of our planet. An increase in carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere would have the most detrimental consequences.
Many examples can be cited showing how great is the role of vegetation cover in the life of nature. Without the participation of vegetation, the process of soil formation is impossible - one of the most important processes occurring on Earth. Without plants, the life of wild animals is impossible - not only herbivores, but also predators. The vegetation cover prevents the erosion of the banks of rivers and mountain slopes, the fluttering of sands, etc. Vegetation affects the atmosphere and soil, groundwater and wildlife, streams and rivers, lakes and swamps. In other words, it is a powerful natural factor, the importance of which can hardly be overestimated.

Answer from Madina Fakhritdinova[newbie]
Vegetation is also of great importance as a source of oxygen, without which life on Earth is impossible. Green plants release a huge amount of oxygen into the atmosphere.
One medium-sized tree releases as much oxygen per day as three people need to breathe. And how much does one hectare of forest, a whole forest area, all the forests of the world give off!
Green plants play an extremely important role in yet another respect: they, and only they, are capable of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on a large scale and, consequently, preventing its accumulation in the air shell of our planet. An increase in carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere would have the most detrimental consequences.
Many examples can be cited showing how great is the role of vegetation cover in the life of nature. Without the participation of vegetation, the process of soil formation is impossible - one of the most important processes occurring on Earth. Without plants, the life of wild animals is impossible - not only herbivores, but also predators. The vegetation cover prevents the erosion of the banks of rivers and mountain slopes, the fluttering of sands, etc. Vegetation affects the atmosphere and soil, groundwater and wildlife, streams and rivers, lakes and swamps. In other words, it is a powerful natural factor, the importance of which can hardly be overestimated.

Answer from 3 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Why is life on Earth impossible without plants?

The flora, or flora of the Earth, is the totality of all types of nuclear, multicellular, photosynthetic plants found in. Most organisms are those that synthesize their food using solar energy, but there are also heterotrophic plants and very few species that are both autotrophs and heterotrophs. The history of life on Earth and the existence of many organisms are literally dependent on plant life. Because animals cannot get energy directly from the Sun, they must eat plants (or other animals that have a herbivore diet) to survive. Plants also provide oxygen to humans and animals by taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.

Plant diversity

Plants are found on land, in the oceans and in fresh water. They have existed on our planet for millions of years. The number of species of currently existing green plants is presented in the following table:

The table shows the total number various kinds green plants ( Viridiplantae). It is estimated that there are about 300,000 living species Viridiplantae, of which 85-90% are flowering plants. (Note from the author: since the data are from different sources and have different dates, in some cases the calculations are subject to some uncertainty)

Differences between plants and animals

Australia

Eucalyptus regal

The flora of Australia is characterized by the presence of a large number of endemic species - plants that are not found anywhere else. Nevertheless, with the advent of immigrants, many other "non-native" species have taken root on the mainland. Australian vegetation is characterized by the predominance of two types of plants - eucalyptus and acacia.

Asia

Asia has the most diversity flora of all parts of the world, since it occupies the largest area, it is located in various climatic zones and natural zones. Here you can find more than 100 thousand plant species, from tropical to arctic, which makes up about 40% of the Earth's flora. The mainland also has a large number of endemic plants.

Antarctica

colobanthus kito

Antarctica is the most inhospitable place on Earth for both plants and plants. There are no trees here, but only two types of flowering plants and many mosses, lichens, algae, etc. The mainland is very fragile and is suffering due to climate change and human activities.

Africa

spurge thorn

Africa is the second largest continent in the world and is home to many unique plants. The flora of the mainland is divided into three main ones -, and. However, they do not have a wide species diversity, because this biome is characterized by complex climatic conditions, including high temperatures and drought. The Sahara Desert, located in northern Africa, is one of the driest places on Earth. However, African wet evergreens contain a wide variety of plants.

Europe

Despite the fact that Europe is located on the same continent with Asia, called Eurasia, there is not such a rich species diversity of the plant world as the eastern neighbor. The flora of Europe has been largely influenced by the mountain range of the Alps, which runs from west to east.

North America

On the territory of North America are the main biomes of the planet, from deserts to arctic tundra. Each biome is characterized by a set of certain plant species that have adapted to grow in certain environmental conditions.

South America

South America, like Asia, has become home to a huge variety of plant species. Here is a huge ecosystem that supports the life of many and plants.

The value of the plant world

The value of plants in human life

Plants serve as the foundation of all life on Earth and are essential for the well-being of people. Think about how your everyday life depends on plants.

Air: Oxygen comes to us from plants as a by-product of photosynthesis.
Food: Everything we eat comes directly or indirectly from plants. Throughout human history, approximately 7,000 different plant species have been used by humans as food.
Water: plants regulate - they help distribute and purify. They are also involved in the movement of water in a process called transpiration.
Medicines: one quarter of all prescription drugs come directly from or are derived from plants. In addition, four out of five people worldwide today rely on primary health care facilities.
Vitamins: Plants are the largest source of vitamins needed by the human body.
Cloth: plants are a major source of raw materials for textile materials.
Culture: images of some plants are used on national emblems, including trees and flowers.
Furniture and housing: The wood of plants is used in the construction of houses, as well as for the manufacture of furniture.
Aesthetic pleasure: the presence of plants in people's lives allows you to enjoy their view and relieves stress. Therefore, many people grow ornamental plants in houses and household plots.

The value of plants in nature

Amazon rainforests

Environment and climate are largely interconnected with flora. Precipitation, humidity and temperature depend on the presence and nature of vegetation. The reduction of plants also disturbs the balance in and indirectly affects human life.

Food chains: In every food chain, plants are at their base and lead the chain as a source of food. For example: Grass → Cow → Lion; Grass → Insect → Frog → Snake → Eagle. Here the plant starts the chain, and other animals depend on it directly or indirectly. Without plants, there can be no life on Earth.
Habitat: Of course, in addition to the huge number of people, plants form the basis of all habitats.
Climate: Plants store carbon, which is released into the atmosphere when burned.
Soil erosion: plants growing in the soil, in sufficient quantities, prevent wind erosion (when during times of wind, the fertile topsoil is blown away by the air).
Ecological balance: plants help reduce heat and prevent moisture from evaporating. Thus, they are environmentally beneficial.
Precipitation support: plants and trees have a cooling effect on the atmosphere, resulting in precipitation. Therefore, rainfall in deserts is extremely rare.
Soil fertility: plants maintain soil fertility. Fallen leaves, fruits, etc., rot in the soil and form humus, which in turn increases soil fertility, as it is favorable for microorganisms.
Habitat: plants - best places habitats for birds and animals, including monkeys, squirrels, etc. Birds build their nests in trees for laying eggs, sleeping, hunting and safety. In forests, animals may take shelter under trees during extreme heat and rain. They also provide food for many (earthworms), insects, rodents, etc.

Plant threats

Deforestation

There are a huge number of flora species on our planet, both registered and not studied or even named. However, although the threat to the existence of many wild animals is now widely recognized, few people know that plants are also in great danger. In February 2015, the Center for Biological Diversity stated: "Of more than 300,000 known plant species, the IUCN has assessed only 12,914 species, finding that about 68% of the assessed plant species are threatened with extinction."

Vast areas of desert around the world testify to the destruction of vegetation by humans. Much of the Middle East is now desert or being reopened at great expense. Once there were many forests in the Mediterranean, now these lands are bare and eroded. In many parts of Africa and India, cattle and goats roam the rocky plains, eating any patch of green that appears in the barren lands that were once good pastures. Overgrazing by domestic and wild animals is, in fact, the biggest threat to plants, although "raids" by botanists and other enthusiasts on some beautiful plants sometimes entail serious losses for rare species.

Perhaps people forget that all our cultivated plants and garden flowers come from wild flora. Equally important is the fact that plants provide a high proportion medicines V modern world. Who knows what secret treasures for mankind are still locked away among the vegetation, waiting to be discovered. Tropical rainforests are among the most endangered habitats on the planet, containing 63% of endangered plant species.

One of the biggest threats to flora is the conversion of natural habitats into areas for agricultural use and livestock production, for example, when tropical forests are cleared for grazing or growing soybeans, animal feed, or oil palms. Ancient woodlands are special because they are at least 400 years old and provide the basis for biodiversity, as well as supporting abundant wildlife.

plant protection

Plant protection is a set of measures aimed at protecting existing plants and especially endangered species. The main document that lists plants to be protected is the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List.

The IUCN Red List is established by clear criteria to assess the risks of extinction of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant for all species and regions of the world. The goal is to bring conservation awareness to the public and governments, and to help the international community try to reduce species extinction. According to the IUCN, the stated goals of the Red List are to:

provide scientifically based information on the status of species and subspecies at the global level;
draw attention to the extent and importance of endangered flora;
to influence national and international politics, as well as the decision-making process;
provide information for possible actions for plant conservation.

One of the most important protective actions is the creation of national parks, reserves, nature reserves, botanical gardens, etc. These nature protection facilities allow to preserve the natural habitat of plants and protect them from excessive human exploitation.

The value of green plants in nature is exceptionally great. In the process of photosynthesis in chlorophyll grains under the influence of sun rays organic matter is created from carbon dioxide and water (by plants). These organic substances are used to nourish all plant organs, as well as to form plant cells. Animals and humans consume ready-made organic substances, which are formed only in green plants.

Without green plants on Earth, there would be no food necessary for the life of all living beings.

But the significance of green plants is not limited to this. They enrich the atmosphere with oxygen necessary for the respiration of all living organisms, purify polluted air by absorbing carbon dioxide from it.

Many years ago, an article appeared in the foreign press, the author of which prophesied death from carbon dioxide for humanity and all life on Earth. The article said that the amount of carbon dioxide in the air from year to year will increase, as it is released into the atmosphere by numerous plants and factories, an increasing human population, wildlife and plants themselves.

But scientists studying plant life have proven that as long as there are enough green plants on Earth, oxygen supplies will not run out. Asphyxiation from carbon dioxide will never come. By consuming carbon dioxide, necessary for the formation of organic substances, plants thereby purify the air. They replenish it with oxygen, after which the air becomes habitable.

8 reasons why life on Earth is impossible without plants

Oxygen production

Photosynthesis- a unique process of creating organic substances from inorganic. This is the only process on our planet associated with the conversion of the energy of sunlight into the energy of chemical bonds contained in organic substances. In this way, the energy of sunlight received from space, stored by green plants in carbohydrates, fats and proteins, ensures the vital activity of the entire living world - from bacteria to humans. An outstanding Russian scientist of the late XIX - early XX century. Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev (1843-1920) called the role of green plants on Earth cosmic. He wrote:

All organic substances, no matter how diverse they may be, wherever they are found, whether in a plant, in an animal or in a person, have passed through the leaf, originated from substances produced by the leaf. Outside the leaf, or rather outside the chlorophyll grain, there is no laboratory in nature where organic matter is isolated. In all other organs and organisms, it is transformed, transformed, only here it is formed again from inorganic matter.

Absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2)

Another important function for which plants are responsible on our planet is the absorption of carbon dioxide. Of all the objects present on Earth, it is plants that are able to perform such a “work” and cleanse our atmosphere of unusable CO2 gases, because if its level in the atmosphere exceeded the permissible limits, this would all lead to an unfavorable outcome for all living things.

soil formation

Organic substances formed by green plants are consumed by living creatures on land. Waste products of vital processes of organisms, products of decay and decomposition of dead bodies (plants, animals, fungi, bacteria) and their individual parts (fallen leaves, dead roots, root hairs, abundant root secretions), getting into the upper layer of the earth's surface, decompose there and take participation in the creation of a unique natural formation - the soil.

The soil is formed and develops on the surface of the Earth as a result of the interaction of elements of animate and inanimate nature. Soil does not form without organic compounds. Soil fertility depends on the amount of organic matter - humus.

Animal world

It is necessary to pay attention to the animal world, because it also could not exist without plants on Earth. The fact is that many animals, including wild ones, eat plants, being herbivores. That is, if there was no food for them on the planet, they would simply die out. However, plants and predatory animals are also affected, because they, in turn, feed on other representatives of the animal kingdom, which, as we have already said, would not exist without plants. Accordingly, extinction would have awaited predators.

Accumulation of organic matter

All living organisms can live only by consuming in the form of food the energy that green plants, with the help of chlorophyll, received from the Sun and concluded in carbohydrates and other organic compounds. Carbohydrates are an important product of photosynthesis.

Many plants, such as sugar cane, sugar beets, onions, peas, corn, grapes, dates, store sugar in stems, roots, bulbs, fruits, and seeds. It is sugars that serve as the main source of energy for all living beings, since they can easily become one of the most active compounds in any living cell.

However, not all plants are green. Mushrooms, bacteria, and some of the higher plants lack chlorophyll and are therefore incapable of producing organic food for themselves from inorganic substances. Such non-green plants (saprophytes), often invisible to the naked eye, settle in abundance on dead organic matter remaining after the death of plants and animals, use it for their nutrition, destroy, mineralize and thus bring it into a state available for use by green plants. This is the positive role of non-green - chlorophyll-free plants.

Energy storage

By constantly absorbing energy in the form of solar radiation, plants accumulate it. The accumulation of energy is a very important phenomenon for wildlife, due to the photosynthesis of green plants. Organic matter is an excellent energy carrier. A person widely uses gas, oil, coal, firewood - all these are organic substances that release energy during combustion, which was once stored in green plants.

Impact on climate

The vegetation cover has a huge impact on the formation and change of climate, the role of plants in the soil-forming process, in increasing soil fertility is exceptional. The forest softens sharp fluctuations in temperature, improves the water-air regime of soils, and delays the wind. Forest plantations hold the soil on the slopes and prevent the movement of loose sands, prevent the development of erosion processes.

cleaning function

No less important is the sanitary-hygienic and aesthetic role of plants. They kill pathogens, purify water and air (more than 70% of dust suspended in the air and up to 60% of sulfur dioxide settle on them), and serve as a barrier to the propagation of sound waves. Any vegetation decorates the landscape and heals the atmosphere.

The importance of plants in human life. cultivated plants

Plants are the primary source of existence, prosperity and development of life on Earth, and primarily due to their ability to carry out photosynthesis.

Formation of the gas composition atmospheric air, as is known, is also directly dependent on plants. One hectare of corn releases 15 tons of oxygen per year, which is enough to breathe for 30 people. All the oxygen in the atmosphere passes through the green matter in about 2000 years. In 300 years, plants absorb as much carbon as is contained in the atmosphere and waters. The annual chemical energy of photosynthesis products was 1000 times higher than the energy production at the end of the 20th century. all power plants in the world. It has been established that the plants of the Earth in the process of photosynthesis annually form more than 177 billion tons of organic matter.

Vegetation renders big influence on the climate, water bodies, wildlife and other elements of the biosphere with which it is closely interconnected. The nature of the vegetation largely determines the nature of the biocenosis, ecosystems, their morphological and functional structure, and the biogeocenotic activity of the components. The importance of plants in human life is great. First of all, vegetation represents the necessary environment for human life. Wild flora is an invaluable genetic fund in breeding work when creating new varieties of agricultural crops. According to N.M. Chernova et al. (1995) most of the plants that provide about 90% of the world's food today came from the cultivation of wild plants

Employees of the All-Russian Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) established the presence in Russia of about 600 wild species that are relatives of cultivated plants. Many of them served as the basis for breeding more than 1500 new varieties.

The negative value of vegetation in comparison with the benefits it brings is insignificant. Thus, some species of wild plants grow as weeds on cultivated lands and pastures. In some places, we have to deal with the overgrowth of reservoirs and canals. Sometimes the mass development of aquatic vegetation causes the appearance of summer fish kills in lakes. Some other cases of the harmful effects of plants on humans are also known (poisoning, fungal diseases) and economy (fouling of the bottoms of ships, overgrowth of roads, etc.).

Cultivated plants are plants grown by humans for food products, feed in agriculture, drugs, industrial and other raw materials and other purposes.

According to the eighth edition of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, three categories of cultivated plants are currently recognized: cultivar, grex (Orchidaceae only) and group.

Cultivated plants obtained from the wild by hybridization, selection or genetic engineering. In the process of searching for wild plants to turn them into cultivated and use, the doctrine of the centers of origin of cultivated plants arose. In 1926-1939, N. I. Vavilov summarized the accumulated knowledge and identified seven main centers of origin of cultivated plants. Unlike decorative types, cultivated plants do not have natural habitats.

Without plants, life on Earth would be impossible. Why without plants, life on earth would be impossible Accumulation of organic matter

4 reasons why life on Earth is impossible without plants

Plant diversity