Smoke Plants Views
The smoke particles that we see, however, are particulate pollution which can coat the leaf surface, reducing photosynthesis. These particulates can also clog stomatal pores, reducing gas exchange in the leaf. These effects are bad for plants. Cigarette smoke, and some other smokes, also contain tar which can clog stomatal pores.
Particulate pollution in smoke can be harmful to humans as well. Plants can be used to cleanse the air. As we all learn in school, plants need carbon dioxide (which we exhale when we breath) and produce oxygen (which we need). That's good. Plants can also cleanse particulate and chemical pollutants from the air, protecting our health. Plants with fuzzy leaves are most efficient at cleansing particulates from the air.
Now researchers have identified another way in which widespread flames benefit some fire-following plant species: A family of chemicals in the smoke makes the plants hypersensitive to lower, altered light levels, triggering the seeds to sprout with thicker, sturdier stems than they otherwise would have.
People have known for a long time that plants grow better after fire sweeps through. In some cases, species that were thought to be extinct have reappeared after burns. Still, it has been difficult to pinpoint exactly how fire sparks growth, van Staden said, because close to 4,000 chemical compounds occur naturally in smoke.
Smoke Plants Images
