Lab 28_ Review Questions
Compare and contrast the complexity of bryophytes and algae regarding their morphology, habitat, asexual reproduction, and sexual reproduction.
Bryophytes have more specialized tissue than algae. Few mosses are aquatic. Many algae are aquatic. Many algal species are unicellular, few bryophytes are.
Is the sporophyte of mosses ever independent of the gametophyte? Explain.
Embryo of sporophyte develops from zygote which germinates within female sex organ or archegonium and thus nurtured by gametophyte. In most species the sporophyte tissue remains attached to the gametophyte.
What event begins the sporophytes phase of the life cycle? Where does this event occur in liverworts and mosses?
Fertilization occurs in the archegonium of both liverworts and mosses.
What limits the height of mosses?
Lack of vascular tissues, moss must take in water externally and is not easily transported.
What event begins the sporophyte phase of the life cycle? Where does this event occur in liverworts and mosses?
Meiosis and spore formation in the sporangium.
What features distinguish a moss from a liverwort?
Mosses typically have leafy structure spirally arranged on upright stalk (3-D) radically. Liverworts typicaly grow prostrate and produce flat leafy thallus (2-D) bilateral.
Why do you think that bryophytes are sometimes referred to as the amphibians of the plant kingdom?
Must have moisture, flagellated sperm, to reproduce and thus never emancipated from aquatic environment.
What ecological roles do liverworts, mosses, and hornworts play in the environment?
Provide food for many invertebrates.
Diagram the life cycle of a liverwort, indicating which stages are sporophytic and which are gametophytic.
See text diagram, label and number steps.
Digram the life cycle of a moss, indicating which stages are sporophytic and which are gametophytic. Also indicate where meiosis and syngamy occur.
See text diagram, label and number steps.
How did liverworts obtain their name?
thallus shape and feel reminiscent of liver.
