Question

Some slow-growing trees have leaves that are high in lignin. The most likely advantage of lignin to such trees is that lignin
a. has a low C:N ratio, and thus it enriches the soil in its immediate vicinity.
b. kills certain microorganisms that are needed for plants with high growth rates, protecting the trees from competitive exclusion.
c. has high concentrations of phosphorus, which is necessary for slow-growing trees.
d. slows the rate of decomposition, thereby lowering the fertility of the soil and allowing the trees to outcompete plants with high growth rates.
e. Both a and b

Answer 1

Reduces pace of decomposition, which lowers soil's fertility and gives trees advantage over plants with rapid growth. Along with cellulose and hemicellulose, lignin is one of primary elements of trees.

Lignin gives trees their stiffness and also makes them water resistant and deterioration resistant. It makes up around 30% of the dry mass of wood. Lignin is a by-product of the paper industry, which is primarily concerned in removing the cellulose from the wood, in the present industrial procedures. The paper turns yellow after being exposed to the sun due to lignin. Because paper pulps are difficult to handle as environmentally damaging, lignin is extracted from them using chlorinated products. Lignin may also provide a distinct vanilla flavor to paper.

Large amounts of lignin are left over after the paper-making process, and the majority of it is now burnt to provide heat or utilized in other industrial uses like agriculture or building. Chemically speaking, lignin is a polymer with a structure that enables it to replace uses derived from petroleum, such as fenol. Its main benefit is that it is much more environmentally friendly than products made from petroleum, as the growth of trees absorbs $Co_{2}$ rather than emitting it.

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