Plants are defined as multicellular organisms that get their energy through photosynthesis. There are currently estimated to be 400,000 species of plants on earth and they come in all shapes and sizes. In South Carolina one can find everything from the tiny foamflowers of the mountains to the majestic live oaks of the coast.

One of the reasons plants need air and water in their habitat is because they use these things to make the food energy that they need. Through photosynthesis, plants use the energy of sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into energy. This energy takes the form of the carbohydrate, glucose (sugar). Plants use glucose as energy to allow it to grow and build structures such as leaves, flowers and fruits. Glucose that is not used immediately is converted into starch and carbohydrates, which are stored in the plant for future use. These are stored in the roots, stems and leaves. Some of these roots, stems and leaves are the vegetables found at the grocery store, such as potatoes, celery and spinach.

In order for photosynthesis to occur, plants need air, water and sunlight. Plants get air through pores in their leaves, water through the roots in the ground and sunlight through cell structures in the leaves known as chloroplasts. Chloroplasts contain the pigment chlorophyll, which can absorb sunlight (except the green waves of light, which are reflected out and give plant leaves their green coloration). The energy from the sunlight is used to provoke a chemical reaction between carbon dioxide and water to produce glucose and oxygen. The plant uses glucose as energy and the oxygen is released in the atmosphere. This oxygen is then used by animals, such as humans, to allow them to carry out their life processes. This is a simplified explanation of photosynthesis but provides a basic understanding of the concept.

Besides water, air and sunshine, plants also need minerals and space to survive. Plants draw nutrients, such as potassium and nitrogen, out of the soil through their roots. These nutrients are used in processes important to plant survival, such as osmosis regulation or enzyme production. Plants also need space so they are not in competition with other plants. If certain plants are too close together, their roots will compete for nutrients and water out of the soil and thus may not be able to get enough of what they need to survive. Also, larger plants, such as trees, can block enough sunlight to make it impossible for other plants to grow underneath them, as the smaller plants cannot get the light they need to perform photosynthesis.

Rice, the focus of this activity, is a plant very important to the cultural and natural history of South Carolina. Rice is a type of grass that can grow from two to six feet tall. Originally, rice flourished in dry climates, but thousands of years of cultivation have lead to varieties of rice that do very well in water-saturated areas. Today, rice is perhaps the world’s most important crop and provides more calories to the human race than any other food. Annually about 570 million tons of rice is harvested worldwide.

In antebellum times, rice was one of the major crops grown in South Carolina. It began in 1694 and at its peak in 1850 between 100,000 to 150,000 acres of land in the state was being cultivated for rice production. This had both cultural and environmental impacts. The intensive labor required to grow rice encouraged slaveholding, and thus strengthened and increased this practice. Slaves were used to clear forests, drain wetlands and build impoundments for rice fields, and so much of the original habitat was changed to grow rice.

Impoundments were areas in which earth banks were built up to hold reserves of water in place to be used to supply water to the rice fields. These impoundments used systems of water control devices and drainage ditches to allow water to flow in and out. Today about 70,000 acres of impoundments still remain. Though a major alteration of the natural landscape, these impoundments have become important habitat for migrating waterfowl. The South Carolina Aquarium has an exhibit representing the habitat of rice impoundments.

To grow rice, other organisms' habitats were changed to make the area more suitable to the adaptations of rice. Like all plants, though, rice is dependent on air, water, sunlight, nutrients and space in order to survive. Because, the habitat created for cultivating rice contained these things, many other plants are now able to thrive on this land, because it is suitable habitat for them as well.