Answer:
It made it possible to move water within the plant structure.
Explanation:
The evolution of plants occurred, mainly, after atmospheric changes due to the release of oxygen by autotrophic organisms. Thus, the first species to colonize the terrestrial environment were bryophytes and mosses, and the main characteristic that facilitated colonization after the formation of multicellular organisms was the formation of epidermal tissue and structures that guaranteed protection against water loss, the movement of water within the plant.
In the Paleozoic period, the first plants with vascular systems emerged, which developed from the first plant groups that colonized the terrestrial environment. The vascular system is composed of xylem and phloem which are the vessels that conduct nutrients and water within the plant.
About 400 million years ago, ancestral plants went through several events of adaptive irradiation, and diversified into the different species that we know today. These adaptive events were fundamental for the colonization of the terrestrial environment, so that diverse environments with adverse conditions were colonized by the plants.
After the appearance of sap-carrying vessels, plants evolved and tall species emerged that constituted the first forests, even at the end of the Devonian period.
Most of the plants survived the extinction events of the Triassic period, however, the environmental and atmospheric changes may have caused more evolutionary events, mainly in relation to the formation of flowers and fruits, which exponentially increased the biodiversity of terrestrial flora from the period Cretaceous.
In addition to the morphological and physiological changes over evolutionary events, another important process in the evolution of plants is reproduction and, indirectly, dependence on water for this process.
