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Dieren en planten

Plants   Algae and seaweed   Moss   Ecology of moss   Moss species   Ferns   Common polypody   Adder's tongue   Conifers   Scots pine   Black pine   Flowering-plants   Marine flora   Phytoplankton   Flora of the sea floor   Flora of the sea dikes   Harbor flora   Flora on tidal flats   Salt marsh flora   Beach flora   Freshwater flora   Dune flora   White flowers   Pink flowers   Plankton calendar   Phytoplankton   

Water en land

Landforms   Rocky coasts   Sea dikes (biotope)   Harbours (biotope)   Brackish water regions   Freshwater regions   Fresh water (biotope)   Dune areas   Dunes (biotope)   Forests   Forest (biotope)   

Mens en Milieu

Nature policy   Flora and Fauna Act   Habitat Directive   

Plants in general

The plant kingdom is made up of spore plants and seed plants. Spores are much smaller than seeds and are easily dispersed via the wind. A major difference between spores and seeds is that spores don't carry much stored food compared to seeds. That means that they need to land in soil that contains the necessary nutrients or they can't germinate. Seed plants consist of gymnosperms (non-flowering plants) and angiosperms (flowering plants). Each plant has its own way to compete against the thousands of plant species in the world. Some are capable of striving in salty surroundings, others are capable of growing squished between other plants. The wadden region is strongly influenced by natural forces such as wind, salty air and tides. Therefore, it has a vegetation totally adapted to surviving in these extreme conditions.

  • Distribution of seeds

    Plants disperse their seeds in various natural ways: through water, wind, animals (fur) and birds. To insure survival, plants need to 'invade' new areas, to spread out further and further away from where they originated. Dams in rivers and hard boundaries such as highways or fences put limits to water and animal transport. Instead of spreading out in territory, the seeds stay within a region close to the mother plant. Hard boundaries could eventually inhibit biodiversity forming in other areas.  New nature areas are particularly dependent upon seed transportation to populate the area.

    It was always believed that seeds spread by animals took place mainly by attaching to the fur. However, Spanish studies have shown that unintentional seed consumption by rabbits in the process of grazing is also an important way for the seeds to spread far away from the mother plant. Smaller seeds in particular profit from this form of distribution.

  • Brown skirts

    Sometimes you see a flower that is half withered. Just think of white clover. One day it is in full bloom, the next day it has a 'brown skirt'. There is an explanation for this. As soon as the blossom is fertilized, the plant spends its energy making a seed. The flower has perfomed its task by attracting an insect and now is no longer needed. After a while, all of the flowers wither. Each withered flower has produced one seed.