As a whole, plants tend to release more oxygen than carbon dioxide into the environment, but the ratios of gases differ at vario
us times of the day. Plants tend to take in more carbon dioxide during the day and release more oxygen. At night, they tend to take in more oxygen and excrete more carbon dioxide. How does the model support this phenomenon?
As shown in the diagram, the process of photosynthesis requires carbon dioxide for the chemical reaction, and oxygen is one of the products formed. Because photosynthesis requires the Sun, plants can do it only during the day when the Sun is out. During the day, some of the CO2 produced by plants during cellular respiration will be used for photosynthesis. At night, plants can only perform cellular respiration. So, the CO2 excreted during this process will be excreted by the plant.
During the day, due to the presence of sunlight, the process of photosynthesis peaks over that of respiration. Photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide to make carbohydrates releasing oxygen as a byproduct. During the night, because there is no sunlight, the rate of photosynthesis drops. This, therefore, causes the rate of respiration to surpasses the rate of photosynthesis. In respiration, oxygen is consumed and carbon dioxide is released.
This character trait is known as homoplasy. the definition of homoplasy that two or more species share a character, but they did not descend from a common ancestor.
This trait is known as convergent evolution, or convergence.
