Coastal Plants Vs Alpine Plants

In Science Chantelle, Aaliya, Nuha and Priscilla compared two different environments and the plants found there.

WALT - Compare and Contrast Coastal and Alpine Plants

New Zealand has all types of environments from green forests to mountains and large coasts. The plants in these environments have adapted to their surroundings in order to stay alive. We are comparing two environments where plants survive the coast and the mountains.

Both coastal and alpine plants have adapted to the conditions in which they live. Firstly coastal trees and plants, such as pohutakawa grow thick and tough roots to help them attach to rocks. Similarly alpine plants, such as the Mount Cook Lily grow long roots to help them grip onto the mountain. The long roots of alpine plants stops the plant from being damaged by strong winds and heavy snow.

Both coastal and alpine plants grow low to the ground. The reason these plants grow low is to avoid damage from strong salty winds at the coast and strong icy winds up mountains. For example a coastal plant that grows low to the ground is spinifex and a low growing alpine plant is tussock.

Coastal and alpine plants also have to adapt to other weather conditions such as cold frosty air and hot temperatures. For example the vegetable sheep in the mountains grows close together to trap warm air and water. However on the coast, beach spinach grows thick leaves that store water for hot summer days.

In the future these plants may have to adapt to different climates. If the earth gets hotter and sea levels rise because of pollution and climate change, these plants will need to change in order to survive the more extreme environments. For example the mountain plants may spread out wider to stay cooler and the coastal plants may have to dig their roots deeper to hold on as the sea rises.

We believe our comparison is extended abstract because we have made several comparisons. We have used lots of information in our sentences. We have also thought about the future of these plants.