Environmental physiology or ecophysiology is one discipline of biology dealing with the potential of plants to adapt to their environment. The branch defines in-depth knowledge about the growth, survival, abundance, reproduction and geographical distribution. The mechanism and pattern followed by the plants are helpful in understanding evolution traits.
As the plants are plastic phenotypically, they have many genes aiding them in adapting with the changing environmental conditions. Temperature plays a role in ecophysiology as proteins in plants get affected and even denatured at high temperatures. The cell membranes get affected when there is change in temperature, this directly changes the way compounds are transported across the membranes.
There are strong wind currents which affects the plants as it uproots plants and damages leaves. The damage caused to plants by winds is not registered quickly; hence there is only permanent adaptation to the strong winds. Thick leaves, cuticles and strong root system are some form of ecophysiology features shown by plants.
Water has the potential to damage plants. If there is lot of dehydration, tissues get damaged and even lead to plant death. The oxygen content in soil goes down when it is waterlogged this can kill the roots. There are some plants like rice and maize which can develop aerenchyma in the root tissues to prevent water damage.
Ecophysiology is known to prevail in diverse plants and varied tissues. CO2 concentration is increasing in the environment. There are studies showing how stomata number has gone down to balance the increase in the carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere. As plants are grown in conditions with high carbon dioxide levels, the nitrogen levels decrease. Some researchers have found a fall in the micronutrient levels due to this.
There are chances the changes in plants and ecophysiology can affect the humans and the earth in ways more than possibly known to mankind.