Plants as fundamental organisms in ecosystems

Dear readers, in this opportunity we will make a brief description of some fundamental organisms for any natural ecosystem and that we all know, we refer to plants that are autotrophic organisms that produce their own food through a process known as photosynthesis where solar radiation intervenes. These plant organisms reproduce through organs from themselves known as seeds, plant species can be distributed in different ecosystems naturally by abiotic factors such as wind and water or biotic factors such as insects, birds and others; they can also be disseminated in a planned manner by man through the marketing of certified seeds, which are those that are collected and to which some processes are applied to ensure the percentage of germination, especially in agroecosystems.

In that sense, it can be said that within the plants we can find species of herbaceous and woody consistencies, we can also find creeping and perpendicular growth reaching some great heights of up to more than 20 meters depending on the type of species, likewise from the commercial point of view some have been used for the production of food, wood and other items of human interest for their survival. The plant structures are composed of organs such as the root, stem, leaves, flowers, which have an important function and will be described in future publications.

It is also essential to point out that the metabolic process of plants can be compared as a laboratory within natural ecosystems, as mentioned above are organisms that produce their own food, but this is thanks to the light energy from the sun, this process is known as photosynthesis where plants use light, carbon dioxide and water to manufacture and store large amounts of sugars for their development and release a fundamental element for the survival of humans on earth known as oxygen.

In order to carry out this process of light capture, plants present some structures that have the capacity to produce some important elements for their metabolism. Among these structures inside the cells are the chloroplasts, which in turn have a green pigment known as chlorophyll and are responsible for the process of sugar production. In this sense, we will explain in a simple way the process that is carried out according to Parker (2000), first, the plant captures solar energy through chlorophyll, which then through a series of reactions that are very complex, water is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen which is released and goes to the atmosphere, the hydrogen is combined with carbon dioxide carbon to produce sugars and organic substances.

Next, the nutrition presented by the soil is of utmost importance, because after the plant elaborates the organic substances mentioned above, it will begin with the absorption of nutritional elements through its roots to form compounds of interest such as proteins. The plant distributes the elements manufactured by all its organs through the vascular bundles known as xylem and phloem, the xylem helps the transport of substances from the roots and the phloem throughout the plant from the places where the elements needed are synthesized.

Dear readers, plants are fundamental for our ecosystems since they fulfill main functions of absorption of carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, with the planting of plants we can collaborate with the uptake of this gas and in addition to this, it provides us with oxygen, and we could observe in a simple way the process that plants perform to produce their food, these processes are very complex, but we tried to explain in a simple way, since the intention is to make known the importance of plants for ecosystems.