A water table, or aquifer, Is another name for groundwater continually present i

Question

A water table, or aquifer, Is another name for groundwater continually present in the soll. The depth of a water table can vary from location to location, depending on the quality of the soil and the amount of annual rainfall. Water in water tables collects slowly throughout time as rainwater filters through the soll; this water can be depleted by being absorbed through plant roots, by seeping into bodies of water such as rivers and lakes, or by being mechanically collected in a well. Imagine you live in a small town that has grown larger throughout the years. In the past decade, the town's size has almost doubled, and the increased population has increased the demand for fresh water. The town is in a relatively dry area and gets most of its water from a local river and from a large municipal well drawing water from the water table. The past few years have been drought years, though, and the river is not as high as it usually is. The city board decides to increase the amount of water it is drawing from the well, despite protests from geologists, who state that taking out more water than is replenished by rainfall may completely dry up the water table. If the water table were to dry up completely, which type of plants would suffer the most? © Tetra Images / Corbis Taproot plants, such as trees, would suffer most, since they rely on reaching down to the water table to collect enough water. O Fibrous root plants, such as grasses, would suffer most, since their thin roots would not be able to absorb rainwater at the surface of the ground. O Both taproot and fibrous root systems would be severely challenged if the water table were to dry up.

Explanation / Answer

A) taproot plants would suffer since they rely on reaching the plants down to the water table to obtain water

We know that taproot are more drought resistant than fibrous roots, though, in this case, the water table has dried up completely. This would mean that, whatever water the plant would obtain would only be from the surface. Plants having taproots collect water that are stored deep in the water table, which is null in this case. Hence, they can not obtain water. The fibrous roots plants, such as grass, have dense root systems, though they do not reach deep down. As a result, they would anyway not be able to use water table water gone below a certain level. The only option they have is using the water that is coming from the surface, slowly seeping in.

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