What specialized aerial root adaptations enable mangrove trees (such as Avicennia) to absorb atmospheric oxygen while growing in waterlogged, anoxic coastal mudflats?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Pneumatophores
- Step 1: Coastal intertidal wetland soils are water-saturated and rapidly depleted of dissolved oxygen by microbial decomposition.
- Step 2: Pneumatophores (or 'breathing roots') are specialized erect roots that grow upward against gravity out of the mud, featuring porous lenticels and aerenchyma tissue to conduct atmospheric oxygen directly to submerged roots.
Answer
Pneumatophores
Why not the others: 'Haustoria' Haustoria are specialized parasitic root structures used by parasitic plants (like mistletoe) to penetrate host tissues and siphon nutrients; 'Mycorrhizae' Mycorrhizae are symbiotic fungal associations formed with plant root systems that aid in phosphorus and water uptake; 'Tubers' Tubers are enlarged underground storage organs (such as potatoes) derived from stems or roots for carbohydrate storage.
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