What adaptations help grass to survive in the tundra?

Answer 1

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of species of grasses adapted to growing in grasslands, and the types of grasslands that exist depends on their location. Not all grasslands are arid and dry with limited moisture. There are grasslands that exist in the world that get higher amounts of precipitation which are kept intact by large herbivores and, to a large extent, the people who manage them.

Also, a little known fact is that grasses are not just found in grasslands. A significant number of species are found in forests as well.

Grasses adapted to grasslands all have low growth points close to the ground, so that when bitten by a passing herbivore, they will derive from those growth points new tillers (new "daughter plants") to emerge and replace the old plants that could not recover. These growth points are low to the ground enough that even getting trampled by a large herbivore won't harm them. There are exceptions, though. The tillers also exist so that when the older plants have died out, these tillers will come up and replace them. Tillers of grasses are a grass plant's asexual means of reproduction, and are borne from the roots or the crowns of one big grass plant.

Grasses have fibrous root systems that allow to reach out more across the soil surface and down deep into the soil to find water and nutrients. Mycorrhizal fungi that are naturally occurring in the soil also help grasses do this. Native grasses can have roots that go as deep as 8 to 10 feet or more.

These grass roots actually help the grasses because when they are grazed or go through a death-life cycle, the old roots die off and add to the organic matter to the soil. The roots also penetrate the soil and influence soil structure in a way that helps the soil retain water infiltration and water holding capacity. Thus, when it rains (and rains in the prairies can be very intermittent), the organic matter, combined with the litter from the old grasses (and other plants) that have died and been flattened previously by snows or grazing animals, will allow this water to quickly seep into the vast root system and hold it there for the plants to use during drier spells.

Grasses are quicker-growing and recover faster from climatic extremes than trees can. They can also recover sooner from fires. Grasses are adapted to grazing and fire, but still need, in today's world, the human element to ensure the grazing activity they received is monitored and controlled enough so that they have a chance to recover before being grazed again. Too much rest can be a bad thing, just like over-grazing is considered a bad thing.

Answer 2

They don't really adapt much, although they are very useful and can survive fire by re-growing the tips from the inside. If you plant them in a place they don't like, they won't adapt and will show signs of unhappiness by changing colour to yellow and brown.

Answer 3

There are over 11,000 species of grasses in the world. Many of them are adapted to a variety of different grasslands that have different moisture regimes, from very dry to tropical. And many other grasses, and some of the same ones found in grasslands, are also found in forests as well.

There are two main types of grasses: Creeping-rooted or sod-forming, and bunched.

Creeping-rooted grasses spread by root rhizomes. From these root rhizomes are growth points where new plants are established. These new growth points that go into these new plants are called tillers. Some creeping-rooted plants are more creeping-rooted than others. Some species won't spread out as quickly as others will, in other words.

Creeping-rooted grasses are adapted to grasslands largely because of their ability to cover the soil with litter (dead plant material) from previously-living grasses, and have the fibrous, spreading root system that adds organic matter to the soil, thereby encouraging water infiltration and holding capacity. They can form a dense sod that binds the soil together. Root depth of these grasses depends on the species and their adaptation to the environment, and the grazing pressure/rest regime they are exposed to. Some will root deeper than others.

Bunchgrasses are somewhat opposite to creeping-rooted grasses because they do not spread by rhizomes, but rather spread themselves by seed. Once a bunchgrass has established itself, it will form a crown of multiple plants that will get bigger and bigger in size as the years go by. Some grass species that are bunch-forming can have as many as over 200 tillers in one solid bunch, like the rough fescue species of western Canada and parts of the United States. Others will remain small.

Bunchgrasses also form fibrous root systems like creeping-grasses that tend to reach deep or deeper into the soil in search of moisture and nutrients. A mutual partnership with naturally-occurring soil fungi and other micro-organisms help these plants reach and obtain such essential nutrients (no different with creeping grasses). Bunchgrasses don't tend to be as effective in spreading dead plant matter over the soil surface like creeping grasses can, because this material tends to accumulate in significant portions in that bunch over even just a short period of time. The only help they get to help decrease this litter load is occasional and, ideally, significant disturbances or defoliation from grazing animals so that new tillers have a chance to take over.

All of these types of grasses have growth points that are close to the soil surface or in the soil surface, away from the passing mouths of grazing herbivores. When some plant material is removed, these growth points are largely unaffected. Good grazing practices that allow live and dead plant material remaining after a grazing event still allows for enough green material available for plants to recover. Grasses also tend to store energy reserves in the root for times needed to regrow, but when animals are allowed to graze grass plants before they've been able to refill those energy reserves (particularly in cases where overgrazing is allowed to occur), those plants can suffer and even die.

Grasses are also adapted to grasslands by their ability to quickly recover after grazing or fire. Their fibrous, deep rooting where they can trap most of the carbon below the soil surface for microbes and themselves makes them highly adapted to more climatic extremes that would make trees and some shrubs suffer and die out. The variability in adaptability of the multitude of species of grasses of the grasslands allow for enhanced diversity and resiliency to extremes that Nature will push their way.

Answer 4

All organisms, including grass, are adapted to the ecological niche in which they live.

Answer 5

the grass can make their own food and when it rqain the water stores between the cracks and that gives them healthy roots and leaves when it is sunny:)

Answer 6

cause