evolution of plants & nature ??

[Alkaloids03]

Hi,

 

How does the evolution of plants happen?, such as how did some plants/trees/etc come about?

 

And in your opinion do you think nature will evovle more?

[Strange]

 

How does the evolution of plants happen?, such as how did some plants/trees/etc come about?

 

Natural selection (mainly).

 

Your question is far too general. Plants eveolve the same way as everything else. Are there specific features of plants you are interested in? Or specific evolutionary mechanisms?

 

 

And in your opinion do you think nature will evovle more?

 

Things are always evolving. Thay can't stop!

[Phi for All]

And in your opinion do you think nature will evovle more?

 

Of course it will. Evolution isn't an opinion, it's a fact, we see it every day. If you think about the mechanism of evolution, it makes complete sense that every living creature is affected by it.

[Alkaloids03]

Nice, thanks for the replies.

 

Do you guys think its possible for nature/and or would nature evovle to a degree to help the planet.

As in, if nature is some what alive, would it be possible that nature evovles to help the planet?

 

 

And like, lets say the grasslands , they evovled. They came from nothing. Just like there's the grasslands, could there something else be like that that's a major thing?.

 

For example, where you are now, all the grasslands around you, just like that was part of something big that evovled. Could something else big evovle from nature?

[The Tactical Strategist]

I would imagine the grasslands evolved for the large mammals of they ice age. Anyway, yes, I'm sure. Flowers evolved in the Mesozoic to give way to fruits for more energy, for the small mammals and the dinosaurs.

[Phi for All]

Do you guys think its possible for nature/and or would nature evovle to a degree to help the planet.

As in, if nature is some what alive, would it be possible that nature evovles to help the planet?

 

Nature is not somewhat alive. Not as a separate, thinking entity. Evolution is part of the natural world, so it's constantly helping organisms to adapt to their circumstances and environment.

 

The planet, well, that's different. The planet doesn't care if there are creatures or plants on it at all. Earth was still a planet when there was no water, no life.

 

So nature doesn't help the planet, but it sure helps all living things survive on the planet.

[Kelnad]

Well the future is said to be evolving with major shifts around the globe. There will be what is called a mega drought largely in areas where there was rain and a lot of wet seasons will become dry, and areas that were more wet like the Rain Forest will become dry. This spell will last between said 35 yrs up until 2050 is the geologist predictions. So there will be a shift in life with animals and plants dying off and others coming about. Ice ages happen, and than heating up, back and fourth with flooding and drought, these things cause change and life either keeps up or falls behind, but it always evolving. When things heat up you will find thousands of new species merging and coming forth. I would like to get answers on how a animal of a species can just pop up suddenly with other similar species physical attributes. For example if a person was to suddenly pop up with working fins, or gills, or tentacles, how would that be possible. I know it has to do with merging and viruses and bacteria help shape things as they are, but how such a fast leap from one generation to the next, where the parent could be normal and suddenly the off spring shows differences.

[Kelnad]

The main reason I am here and its very important to me is to get this answer and explain the existence of self. You obviously do not have answers here I need. So as smart asses you still do not have the answers. It is pointless to try and talk with someone who is clueless.

[Strange]

The main reason I am here and its very important to me is to get this answer and explain the existence of self. You obviously do not have answers here I need. So as smart asses you still do not have the answers. It is pointless to try and talk with someone who is clueless.

 

Your question was very broad, so it is not surprising that you got rather broad and unhelpful replies. Can you be more specific about what aspects of plant evolution you are interested in? The earliest known plants? The first trees or grasses? Plants have been around for about 450 million years, after earlier life polluted the atmosphere with oxygen. They have been evolving for all that time, so it isn't easy to give a short answer.

 

Wikipedia seems to have a good summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_plants

 

Perhaps you could use that to come up with more specific questions, if you don't find what you want there.

I would like to get answers on how a animal of a species can just pop up suddenly with other similar species physical attributes. For example if a person was to suddenly pop up with working fins, or gills, or tentacles, how would that be possible.

 

That is not possible. Evolution is a slow, incremental process.

[Phi for All]

The main reason I am here and its very important to me is to get this answer and explain the existence of self. You obviously do not have answers here I need. So as smart asses you still do not have the answers. It is pointless to try and talk with someone who is clueless.

 

Since you're clueless about the existence of self, doesn't this mean it's pointless to try and talk with you?

[Strange]

Should this be moved to the biology/evolution section?

[Phi for All]

Should this be moved to the biology/evolution section?

 

Let's try that.

[StringJunky]

 

Nature is not somewhat alive. Not as a separate, thinking entity. Evolution is part of the natural world, so it's constantly helping organisms to adapt to their circumstances and environment.

 

The planet, well, that's different. The planet doesn't care if there are creatures or plants on it at all. Earth was still a planet when there was no water, no life.

 

So nature doesn't help the planet, but it sure helps all living things survive on the planet.

Where does the planet end and nature begin?

[Robittybob1]

Nice, thanks for the replies.

 

Do you guys think its possible for nature/and or would nature evolve to a degree to help the planet.

As in, if nature is some what alive, would it be possible that nature evolves to help the planet?

 

 

And like, lets say the grasslands , they evolved. They came from nothing. Just like there's the grasslands, could there something else be like that that's a major thing?.

 

For example, where you are now, all the grasslands around you, just like that was part of something big that evolved. Could something else big evolve from nature?

"Helping the planet" will be from someone's point of view. Originally there were anaerobes but plants came along that produced oxygen with improves the planet for those creatures that can survive in Oxygen rich atmosphere but oxygen was detrimental to the anaerobes.

 

Because of the higher concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere a plant could evolve with a less energy costly CO2 absorption system, i.e. one that would be at a disadvantage when CO2 is the limiting factor. So now you would have a plant that needs the higher concentration of CO2, as we have now, so you could imagine it out producing other plant forms. It might also be adapted to survive underground, for the increased vegetation would produce an increased fire risk. It might use its increased combustibility to burn other competitor plants and the burning of the other plants would increase the CO2 levels even further, to its advantage.

So was it helping the planet?

[Phi for All]

Where does the planet end and nature begin?

 

Great question. I think the distinction is probably life. The planet would still be a planet without life.

[delboy]

Where does the planet end and nature begin?

I like pondering this too. Since life created quite a lot of the rock beneath us and changed the composition of the atmosphere, the boundary is pretty blurry. I like to think of life as simply part of the substance of the planet, which it is really.

[Phi for All]

I like pondering this too. Since life created quite a lot of the rock beneath us and changed the composition of the atmosphere, the boundary is pretty blurry. I like to think of life as simply part of the substance of the planet, which it is really.

 

But there was a time when the planet had no life as part of its substance. Wasn't it still a planet?

[Essay]

Great question. I think the distinction is probably life. The planet would still be a planet without life.

Sure, even without life, it "would still be a planet...."

...but it wouldn't be "the" planet, as it now exists.

 

...iirc:

This March, 2010 SciAm article on The Evolution of Minerals mentioned how, while deep space normally has ~50 minerals occur naturally, a planet will develop ~500 minerals as it forms and evolves.

 

But only because of life, at least here on this planet, are there ~5000 minerals "naturally" occurring.

 

 

I was so stunned, at the many implications arising from this point, that I made this slide.

===

 

Good soils, and a temperate zone, are also fairly unusual and recent evolutionary developments on the planet. While grasses evolved early in the scheme of things, they (like mammals) didn't come to predominate until the soils and climatic conditions evolved into a favorable setting ...which also were largely a result of earlier biological evolution and developments.

 

So the grasses didn't just come "from nothing" as mentioned above, but there could be "something else ...that's a major thing,"

if the conditions favor it ...as with the herbivore/dung/soil/climate/grasslands situation that mutually co-evolved.

 

~

[delboy]

 

But there was a time when the planet had no life as part of its substance. Wasn't it still a planet?

Of course. Just a chemically much simpler one I guess.

[StringJunky]

Of course. Just a chemically much simpler one I guess.

i prefer to think that life was 'unborn' rather than didn't exist. This idea preserves the continuum between Earth and the emergence of .life.

[delboy]

i prefer to think that life was 'unborn' rather than didn't exist. This idea preserves the continuum between Earth and the emergence of .life.

So the planet gave birth to life. I like it.

[Endy0816]

Hi,

 

How does the evolution of plants happen?, such as how did some plants/trees/etc come about?

 

Plants came about from a photosynthetic bacteria taking up residence inside one of our distant relatives. Just went from there. Cell walls are probably the best known adaption but there are a host of different adaptations out there.

 

I don't know going forward what will happen. I know from some of the Mars testing, plants require more water in a higher concentration of CO2. So adaptations to maximize water intake/retention might be a thing. It is possible they might evolve to start retaining oxygen too, if oxygen becomes really scarce. Though I doubt it'll get that bad.

[Kelnad]

So your saying that it isn't possible for something to just step from being one species to another with out very long process of evolution? So if someone were to say have another body part not like human but with other characteristics they would of had been part of a species with these attributes in the first place?

Kind of like the whales found with an extra thumb? They would of have been a evolving species for a long time with these characteristics?

I wonder what the possibility would be of humans all a sudden going into hibernation like the frog evolutionary process??? I got the idea from reading an article about a whole city coming down with a strange sleep disorder.

[Strange]

So your saying that it isn't possible for something to just step from being one species to another with out very long process of evolution?

 

Obviously, organisms go from being one species to another (or we wouldn't have new species appearing). But usually involves minute, sometimes invisible, changes. Not the appearance of new limbs or new superpowers.

[StringJunky]

So the planet gave birth to life. I like it.

It's a strong analogy, I think. Certain elements of Earth combined, in their deterministic way, into complex, autonomous self-moderating, chemical feedback systems that could modulate their internal and external enviroments.

Edited March 7, 2015 by StringJunky