question_answer

Give any three adaptive features of plants and animals found in arid desert areas.

Answer:

The adaptive features of plants and animals growing in arid region are as follows

Plants

· Desert plants who live in scarcity of water show thick cuticle on their leaf surface.

· Stomata are sunken to minimise water loss through transpiration.

· Special photosynthesis pathway (CAM plants) enables their stomata to remain closed during day time, e.g. in Opuntia. Leaves are reduced to spines and the photosynthetic function is performed by flattened stems.

Animals

· The animals found in desert areas usually possess a thick coat to minimise evaporation causing desiccation.

· They produce concentrated urine.

In some desert animals sweating occurs only at very high temperature, e.g. kangaroo rat, found in deserts of North America is capable of meeting all of its water requirements through its internal fat oxidation (in which water is a byproduct). It also has the ability to concentrate its urine for the minimal loss of water.