Reproduction in Plants

why reproduce at all?

• All living organisms will die
• For life to continue, reproduction must occur, and
  Life has persisted on this planet for about 3.5 billion years

reproductive strategies

• Reproduction may produce offspring which are...
  • copies [clones] of the parent
  • different from the parents
• clones should...
  • preserve the characteristics of the parent
  • while restoring youth to the offspring
• different offspring can be produced by...
  • taking some characteristics from each parent, and
  • recombining these characteristics in the offspring,
  • while restoring youth to the offspring,
  • a process called sexual reproduction
  • since clones do not involve sex, it is called asexual reproduction

IF environmental conditions should not be more extreme in the future than they have been in the parent's life, asexual reproduction will produce offspring which can be expected to be as successful as was the parent.

IF environmental conditions should be more extreme in the future than they have been in the parents' life times, sexual reproduction may (or may not) produce offspring which may be more successful in their life time than the parents would have been.

reproduction in plants

• Most animals have obligate sexual reproduction
• Most plants have both asexual and sexual reproduction
  • asexual is frequently the preferred method

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