Exam 29: Plant Diversity I: How Plants Colonized Land

If bryophytes do not have vascular tissue, how can some mosses reach 60 centimeters tall?

Which of the following statements about the transition from ocean to land by plants is most likely to be accurate?

Use the following information to answer the question. Big Bend National Park in Texas is mostly Chihuahuan desert, where rainfall averages about 25 centimeters per year. Yet, it is not uncommon when hiking in this extremely arid zone to encounter mosses and ferns. One such plant is called "flower of stone." It is not a flowering plant, nor does it produce seeds. Under arid conditions, its leaflike structures curl up. However, when it rains, it unfurls its leaves, which form a bright green rosette on the desert floor. Consequently, it is sometimes called the "resurrection plant." At first glance, it could be a fern, a true moss, or a spike moss. What feature of both true mosses and ferns makes it most surprising that they can survive for many generations in dry deserts?

The 1-meter height attainable by Dawsonia moss is at the upper end of the size range reached by mosses. What accounts for the relative tallness of Dawsonia?

The fact that both charophytes and green plants contain chlorophylls a and b demonstrates which of the following?

According to our current knowledge of plant evolution, which group of organisms should feature cell division most similar to that of land plants?

Three of the following are evidence that charophytes are the closest algal relatives of plants. Select the exception.

The structural integrity of bacteria is to peptidoglycan as the structural integrity of plant spores is to ________.

Use the following information to answer the question. Big Bend National Park in Texas is mostly Chihuahuan desert, where rainfall averages about 25 centimeters per year. Yet, it is not uncommon when hiking in this extremely arid zone to encounter mosses and ferns. One such plant is called "flower of stone." It is not a flowering plant, nor does it produce seeds. Under arid conditions, its leaflike structures curl up. However, when it rains, it unfurls its leaves, which form a bright green rosette on the desert floor. Consequently, it is sometimes called the "resurrection plant." At first glance, it could be a fern, a true moss, or a spike moss. Which of the following characteristics is (are) possessed in common by true mosses, ferns, and spike mosses, and therefore becomes useless at helping to determine to which of these groups "flower of stone" belongs?

Breeuwer et al. (2008) measured the effect of different temperature regimes on the growth of different Sphagnum species. The growth of S. fuscum at four temperatures is shown. Use the information in the graph to answer the following question. What would you expect to happen to the geographic range of S. fuscum as the temperature of Earth warms?

Which of these events, based on plant fossils, came last (most recently)?

You are hiking in a forest and come upon a mysterious plant, which you determine is either a lycophyte sporophyte or a monilophyte sporophyte. Which of the following would be most helpful in determining the correct classification of the plant?

The following question refers to the generalized life cycle for land plants shown in the figure. Each number within a circle or square represents a specific plant or plant part, and each number over an arrow represents meiosis, mitosis, or fertilization. In the figure, which number represents an embryo?

In general, liverworts have a cuticle and pores. However, some species do not have pores. What would you predict concerning the cuticle of these species and why?

Which of the following environmental factors probably helped early plants to successfully colonize land?

If you were asked to design a bryophyte that could be successful in a bare, moist area, which of the following possible adaptations would you include?

Use the following description to answer the question. A biology student hiking in a forest happens upon an erect, 15-centimeter-tall plant that bears microphylls and a strobilus at its tallest point. When disturbed, the cone emits a dense cloud of brownish dust. A pocket magnifying glass reveals the dust to be composed of tiny spheres with a high oil content. Besides oil, what other chemical should be detected in substantial amounts upon chemical analysis of these small spheres?

Bryophytes (non-vascular plants) ________.

How are bryophytes and seedless vascular plants alike?

Increasing the number of stomata per unit surface area of a leaf when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels decline is most analogous to a human ________.