Adaptation of organisms to the environment
Adaptation is the process and result of adaptation of organisms to environmental conditions (to the effects of environmental factors).
Morphological adaptations – features of the external structure of plants and animals: the size and shape of the body, the nature of color, etc.
The morphological type of adaptation of an animal or plant to the main factors of habitat and a certain way of life is called the life form of the organism.
Example: in plants, such life forms as trees, shrubs, shrubs, grasses (herbaceous plants) are isolated.
Example: Animals belonging to completely different taxonomic groups have acquired a streamlined body shape for rapid movement in the water.
The effect of environmental factors is not constant, it changes periodically. The periodicity is due to the constant rhythm associated with the rotation of our planet around the Sun and around its axis (change of day and night, seasons, etc.)
Living organisms have adapted to regular changes in environmental factors and react by changing their state and behavior.
Behavioral adaptations are the reactions of living organisms to cyclical changes in living conditions. The trigger mechanism that includes a sequence of physiological processes is the length of daylight hours, or photoperiod.
Example: in plants – growth, flowering, fruiting, leaf fall, dormant period. In animals, the reproduction of animals, their migrations or movements associated with an active search for suitable microclimatic conditions, digging holes, building nests, hibernation in mammals, diapause (a state of physiological dormancy) of insects.
In some organisms, such a phenomenon as suspended animation is observed.
Anabiosis is a slowdown in vital processes when unfavorable conditions occur. In this state, all processes proceed so slowly that no manifestations of life are visible. Anabiosis is observed in some animals, as well as in unicellular organisms, spores and plant seeds.
Anabiosis allows organisms to adapt to adverse conditions, survive in them, and return to active life when conditions change.
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