Plant Adaptations for Survival

Adapt or die

An adaptation is a feature of a plant that helps the plant to survive in its environment. A plant can have ‘structural adaptations’ such as the size, shape and texture of the parts of the plant. A plant can also have ‘behavioural adaptations’ which can include how the plant changes and grows, such as a sunflower turning to face the sun, a flower closing its petals at night for protection, or a vine climbing up a tall tree to reach more sunlight.  

All plants need sunlight, water, air and nutrients and adaptations help a plant to meet these essential needs. A plant needs enough sunlight to make its food. A plant can draw water in through its roots, but it also loses water from its leaves. Most plants take in nutrients through their roots, but some soils don’t have very many nutrients.  

Plants live in a wide range of habitats and different habitats require different adaptations to meet the needs of a plant.  

Desert plants – surviving without much water

[Plants in a desert environment at Uluru] 

Here are some adaptations that can help plants survive in dry environments:

• Fleshy stems and leaves to store water
• Small leaves to reduce water loss
• Tiny scales instead of leaves to reduce water loss
• Hairy leaves to reduce water loss
• Waxy leaves to reflect sunlight
• Silver-coloured leaves to reflect sunlight
• Long roots to draw water from deep down in the ground 

Rainforest plants – surviving with lots of water 

[Plants in a rainforest environment]

Here are some examples of adaptations that can help plants survive in very wet environments:

• Large leaves to collect sunlight in the shade of large trees
• Climbing vines to reach sunlight at the top of large trees
• Living in the air on the side of tall trees to reach sunlight
• Shallow roots to take in nutrients near the surface of the soil
• Buttress roots for stability in heavy rain 

Bushfire plants – surviving fire 

[Image: forest landscape after a bushfire]

Here are some examples of adaptations that can help plants survive in environments that have bushfires:

• Seeds released by smoke so the bush can regrow after fire
• Leaves sprout from tree trunks after a fire in some Australian native trees
• Thick bark to protect hidden buds on tree trunks so leaves can grow after a fire
• Nutrients from ash left behind by the fire helping seeds to grow
• Many Australian native plants rely on bushfires to remove extra vegetation to allow more sunlight to reach the ground so new plants can grow.
• Some plants, like the Banksia, need fire to release their seeds, and the chemicals in bushfire smoke act as a signal to the seeds that conditions are good for the seeds to start growing.  
• Although many Australian native plants have adaptations to survive bushfires, the plants need time to grow back before another bushfire happens. If bushfires happen too often, plants will struggle to survive.