Question

2.4.4 discuss investigate how pollutants affect plants environmental science sem 2 this worksheet will help you orgainize your thoughts for the discussion write down some notes on the questions prompts below topic 1 the experement write a brief summary of the main steps you took in the investigation be sure to include any adjustments that you made to the procedure and why you made them

Answer 1

Answer:

Since the nature of pollutants is not mentioned in the question, several speculations can be made here.

1. Pollutants can affect the photosynthesis: Some pollutants are toxic to plant metabolic reactions such as photosynthesis. This is because of their oxidative nature that can damage the photosystems. This ultimately impairs the plant functioning, e.g. ozone in the air.
2. Pollutants can affect the plant-associated microbial communities: Some pollutants such as antibiotics can target plant-associated bacterial communities that are required for plant health. Just like the human gut, plants also have beneficial bacteria that live inside the plant tissues. These bacteria are called endophytes. The harmful nature of the compounds can affect those bacteria which decreases plant fitness.
3. Pollutants can compete with nutrients that act as limiting factors: Some pollutants are hydrophobic in nature and make the beneficial nutrients less available to the plants. Likewise, some pollutants reduce the bioavailability of plant necessary nutrients directly. This results in reduced growth and development in plants.
4. Pollutants can cause physical damages to plant tissues: Some pollutants are highly reactive in nature and can cause physical damages to the plants. This will result in the attack of pathogens at the wound site which can later take control of host metabolic machinery at later stages. Resultantly, plant fitness is decreased and in some cases, it dies off completely.

It is important to consider that some pollutants are taken up easily by plants whereas other pollutants are difficult. This is because of their water solubility criteria. If a pollutant can be taken up by plant directly, it can cause more damages to the plant as compared to the pollutant which interacts from outside.