How do plants respire when they had shed their leaves?
Answers
Hi.
Plants respire all the time, whether it is dark or light. The respire not just through leaves but every part of a plant breathes.
The roots of a plant take the oxygen required for respiration from the air present in-between the soil particles though extensions of the epidermal cells of a root called as root hairs, by a process called as diffusion.
This oxygen diffuses into root hairs and reaches all the other cells of the root for respiration. Carbon dioxide gas produced in the cells of the root during respiration moves out through, the same fee process of diffusion. Thus, the respiration in roots occurs by the diffusion of respiratory gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide) through the root hairs (This is the reason, why the land plants dies if their roots are waterlogged for a longer time).
In order to understand the respiration in stems of plants we should remember that the soft stems of small, herbaceous plants have stomata in them whereas the hard and woody stems of large plants and trees have lenticels in them.
Lenticel is a small area of bark in a woody stem where the cells are loosely packed allowing the gaseous exchange to take place between the air and the living cells of the stem.
Plants require O2 for respiration to occur and they also give out CO2.
Hence, plants have systems in place that ensure the availability of O2. Each plant part takes care of its own gas-exchange needs and there is very little transport of gases from one plant part to another; second, plants do not present great demands for gas exchange. Roots, stems and leaves respire at rates far lower than animals do. The cells in the interior are dead and provide only mechanical support. Thus, most cells of a plant have at least a part of their surface in contact with air. This is also facilitated by the loose packing of parenchyma cells in leaves, stems and roots, which provide an interconnected network of air spaces.
Example: Basic life support or basal respiration continues year round (in trees that under go ectodormancy in regions of zone 3 or higher). here, the respiration continues in mitochondria throughout the sapwood volume of the plant. Stem respiration increases with spring bud break over several weeks but bole respiration is only slightly increased.
Plant respiration: C6H12O6 + 6 O2 => 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + Energy
Plants that lose their leaves in winter store food produced during the summer by photosynthesis. They store enough food to last them over winter, and to provide energy reserves for new growth in the spring.
Conclusion:
All the parts of a plant (like root, stem and leaves) perform respiration individually. During respiration in plants, there is a little transport of respiratory gases from one part of the plant to the other.
Hope you like it. ..