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How Does Photosynthesis Affect Homeostasis in a Living Organism?

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and animals use sunlight to create energy, both electrical and chemical, in the form of food. Since the process generates oxygen, photosynthesis is the basis of life for nearly all plants and animals. Homeostasis is a living organism's internal balance and how it adjusts in the presence of a changing external environment. Four main factors of photosynthesis can affect homeostasis in a living organism.

Light
- Living organisms, such as plants, use the colors red and blue within the visible light spectrum to activate chlorophyll. Depending on where a plant lives, it makes adjustments according to the intensity of available light and for the number of hours that light is available each day. How well the plant is able to adjust determines its ability to maintain homeostasis. For example, a banana tree cannot survive in the cold north because it cannot adjust enough to maintain homeostasis.
Temperature
- People and plants survive in a wide range of temperatures. When temperatures fall outside the optimum range for a particular living organism, it makes internal changes to compensate. For example, plants adapt to higher temperature by growing smaller than normal leaves that may also be lighter in color and have thicker cuticles than it would have in an optimum climate. Plants adapt to low temperatures by growing lower to the ground. People adjust to low temperature by shivering to generate heat.
Nutrients
- Nutrients found in air, carbon dioxide and oxygen are necessary for the survival of living organisms. Oxygen allows cellular respiration to occur. Photosynthesis requires large amounts of carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis slows down in the absence of adequate oxygen. Soil and water also provide nutrients to living organisms. Too much water reduces the amount of oxygen available to an organism, and if it cannot adjust, it drowns. Inadequate nutrients in soil means plants must make internal adjustments to survive. Typically, poor soil causes plants to die or have stunted growth.
Water
- Living organisms mainly consist of water and cannot survive without it. Water is probably the most difficult thing to adjust to, whether too much or too little. A lack of water makes living organisms sick, resulting in wilting or disease. Some plants, such as a cactus, has adapted by storing water for use when drought is upon them. Plants use only one percent of the water they take in for photosynthesis. The remainder goes back into the environment through a process called transpiration.

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