Significance

• There are more than 250,000 flowering plant species in the world, each carrying out photosynthesis and providing oxygen for the atmosphere and food for animals and humans.
  
  

Function

• In a process fueled by the light energy of the sun, plants use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water from the environment to synthesize sugars in the form of carbohydrates and oxygen.
  
  

Features

• Photosynthesis takes place primarily in the leaves, with the stomata (pores) found on the underside of the leaves being the site of gas and moisture exchange.
  
  

Considerations

• Water is often the limiting factor in photosynthesis, with low moisture conditions resulting in a reduction or even cessation of the process.
  
  

Benefits

• Plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a primary greenhouse gas and contributor to the "greenhouse effect," the instigator of global warming.