Water plays a really important role in the life of a plant. It's interesting to compare and contrast the need for water between plant and animal cells. Surprisingly though, out of all the resources that a plant needs to flourish and function, water is the most plentiful but also the most limiting. This is because the actual availability of fresh water is so low. The availability can limit the productivity of ecosystems which leads to differences in vegetation type. Also, water is usually a limiting source for plants and not so much animals because plants use water in very large amounts and approx. 97% of the water evaporates that is taken in. Both cells ultimately survive on water and need it to prosper. However, a big difference that has a large impact on their water relations respectively is that plant cells have cell walls and animal cells do not. The cell walls allow the plant cells to build large internal hydrostatic pressures which is essential for physiological processes.
All facts stated can be found in the textbook Plant Physiology and Development (sixth edition) by Lincoln Taiz and Eduardo Zieger
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