Question

All elements that are present in a plant need not be essential to its survival. Comment.

Answer 1

Plants tend to absorb different kinds of nutrients from the soil. Some types of nutrients absorbed by plants are not essential for their survival as they are not involved in the plant’s physiology and metabolism. For example, plants growing near radioactive sites tend to accumulate radioactive metals. Similarly, gold and selenium get accumulated in plants growing near mining sites.

However, this does not mean that radioactive metals, gold, or selenium are essential nutrients for the survival of these plants.