The importance of plants

As a summary, we can say that the great importance of plants for living beings is due to:

• Plants are the only autotrophy living beings, capable of transform the energy of the sun In chemical energy and manufacture with it Organic matter. That is, they produce organic matter from totally inorganic sources, this is how plants feed.
• These, in turn, They are food For a variety of living beings, both herbivores and omnivores.
• For this reason, plants are responsible for much of Biomass Present on the planet: without them, the earth would be little more than a desert.
• Moreover, without them, we would not even have our oxygen -rich atmosphere. The plants thus produced oxygen as a residue of photosynthesis for a large period of time, both and to alter the composition of the atmosphere. Thanks to this, large amounts of oxygen were exposed to the stimulus of ultraviolet rays, which ended up forming the ozone layer. Therefore, simplifying the entire process, They provide oxygen to the atmosphere. This ozone layer He prevented ultraviolet rays from reaching so strongly to the earth’s and sea surface, thus allowing both colonized by life forms.

Without all these previous steps, the planet would not have gathered the necessary conditions to support the complex organisms that today inhabit it. The importance of plants for living beings and in the current environment is vital.

There are many functions that plants fulfill in the different ecosystems of the world. As a summary, we can indicate that the great importance of plants in the ecosystem It is given for these reasons:

• They are the Trophic Pyramid Basethe principle of many food or trophic chains, since they are the only ones capable of producing organic matter from sunlight, water and various inorganic materials. This allows herbivorous animals to feed on them, which in turn will be the food of predators. Without its base, the pyramid is not supported. Learn more about this topic with this other article about what trophic pyramids are in ecology.
• Vegetation gives firmness to the earth with its roots, so plants minimize erosion effects and preventing wind and rainfall to end the terrain.
• In the same way, plants allow set organic matter and nutrients in the surface layer of the ground. Therefore, without them, the rain would drag them to the rivers and the sea, causing land desertification.
• Also They provide shelter to many animalsfrom insects to birds and mammals, as well as algae do so for many aquatic organisms.

The human being obtains multiple PLANTS BENEFITS. Even if we ignore such basic issues as the exchange of oxygen on the planet, without them we could not continue with our current life.

• The first and most basic of these benefits is also the most obvious: The food. Approximately 50% of the food currently consumes human being comes from only three species of plants: wheat, rice and corn. Up to that point they are the basis of our food and culinary culture. If we add to these three species the following nine most consumed species, we obtain the food source of three -quarters of humans from the entire planet. And yet, today we have about 200 plant species that have been domesticated for our consumption, along with many others used in their wild forms.
• Besides, The wood That trees produce remains one of the most used materials worldwide for multitude of furniture, structures and tools.
• In case all this were not enough, Vegetable It has been a basic fuel in many times, and although it is currently used much less, we continue to turn to it for many things. Even many cold areas are still burning wood.
• Last but not least, the presence of plants has a proven positive effect on people. The Green areas and parks They give us serenity and relaxation and, therefore, in many homes people resort to plants so as not to lose direct contact with nature.

AND What are plants for In addition to everything mentioned? Although it seems a lie, we have not yet mentioned one of its most important applications: medicine.

Approximately 25% of modern medicines are direct derived products from plants. And thanks to traditional medicine, 80% of people on the planet use Medicinal plants to treat your different problems or conditions. In addition, animals also use them as a means to improve their health, beyond food. You know what situations you should eat a plant or another (to purify themselves, to detoxify, etc.).

Plants have a lot of substances and compounds that, properly used, can treat all kinds of conditions or reinforce our body in different ways to prepare for pathogen attacks or before the accelerated degeneration of cells. Therefore, even today, new species or new uses for already known species are not studied every day. After all, they are The most important key in life on Earth. It is not surprising that ours depends on so many forms of them.

Learn more about The importance of medicinal plants With these other ecology articles, it will see about 60 medicinal plants in Peru and what they are for and 50 Mexican medicinal plants and what they are for.

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