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Nature Block: How plants save the world on a daily basis By Aaron Ambrose D’Souza

Kemmannu, July 28, 2017:
 
I’m pretty sure everyone knows how important plants are with the first thing that comes to mind being photosynthesis the process due to which we are still breathing literally perhaps eventually we’ll have machines to replace that but right now plants are the oxygen tanks of the earth. Well that’s not the only thing we get from photosynthesis though it is how plants get their sustenance which eventually leads to us getting sustenance. That is not all plants do they also play roles in various industries as well from clothing to building materials. Not just that they have inspired us to make other products like Velcro (inspired by plant burrs) and we’re still trying to learn to trap solar energy efficiently from them.

Well that’s already a lot but if that’s not enough world saving for you then I have got a trump card up my sleeves they’re roots. They’re the hidden warriors in other words Ninjas they silently blend in to the surrounding and do their work while the upper body gets all the glory. They’re the reason underground water exists, they are also the reason solid ground exists to some extent otherwise we would just have annoyingly loose soil everywhere. You’ve heard of landslides happening due to deforestation right. These are just the tip of the iceberg of all the things roots do for us.

Now to talk about 2 plants in specific who are local plants which thrive in the backwaters and seashore like in Kemmannu, whose roots are not as shy as the roots of other plants. The plants I’m talking about are Mangrove (Kandla in kannada, Kandli in Konkani) and Ipomea biloba (aka Ravanna’s moustache & in konkani Bangude phula) these riverside/seaside wonders are kind of the reason the sea hasn’t swallowed us up yet while all ours efforts to stop the sea haven’t really been that effective with us having to put up more boulders every 2 years or so. They’re plants with massive roots as you can see in the accompanying images. The mangroves also work as pollution indicators as they are highly receptive to changes in their surroundings. They’re also good shelter for animals such as small crabs, shrimp and fishes. The Ipomea on the other hand is pretty damn small on the surface making it hard to believe in the size of those roots hiding underneath it, which is probably the reason it got the name Ravanna’s moustache. I’ll like to end this by saying that plants don’t need us but we need them big time, so we better live in harmony with them.

On a side note I’d like to mention how important it is for people to learn about their surroundings from a young age. Though we learn about nature in a general way how many of us knew about the aforementioned Ravana’s moustache?? Not many right. Since it’s not easy for us to change the schooling system itself, we can still teach ourselves. So do your best in that alright. This is not a request, just do it. It’s not like you’ll lose anything from doing it. So have fun.

About the Autour:
Aaron Ambrose D’Souza, is the 2nd son of Braan and Dr. Avila D’souza from Kemmannu, a 19 year old doing his 2nd year diploma in Civil engineering at TMA Pai, Manipal. His passion is bio-diversity.

Also Read:

Flora and Fauna of Kemmannu (Thonse) by Aaron Click  Here