Adaptation - learnt from nature - Charleston Crossing

This post is a brief description on how vegetation show their natural adaptation with respect to water resources. On a short tour to Walnut Gulch and San Pedro (same as in earlier post), we stopped by Charleston Crossing. We walked beside the river for some time and took a good observation about the area. It was a small channel with different plants along its either sides. An interesting thing was that there were three plants primarily present in special strata (Photo-1, Photo-2).

Photo-1: Water Channel


Photo-2: Small trees in first line is willow
followed by larger cotton trees and mesquite at the back

First layer of species beside the water channel was Willow trees. Then came the cotton trees and then the Mesquite. It was not an artificial plantation.

Photo-3: Willow trees understorey to cotton trees

Photo-4: Mesquite trees lie farthest to water channel

Willow tree needs much more water and it does not have a long root to get water from higher depth so it was found nearer to the channel. Cotton tree requires less wet habitat compared to willow so was found farther from water channel.

Mesquite is adaptable to drier areas so it is found much farther from the water body. This adaptation of mesquite can also be justified with response to its root system. We could see that mesquite had a long tap root and many lateral roots. The lateral roots help plant to spread on the ground surface.

Photo-5: Mesquite Roots

On absence of water, willow trees are the first to dry up followed by cotton trees. Mesquite is the last to dry which is supported by the long tap roots that go deep into the soil and fulfill water need for the plant.

It is just a normal behavior of plants which we can see commonly in nature but it is interesting to highlight here that these natural adaptations are affected by presence of natural resources, here it is water body.