Can a planet harbor plants of different colors without one pigment outcompeting the others?

On Earth, all plants are green because they contain the pigment chlorophyll, which photosynthesizes by absorbing all light except green light.

However, it is quite possible - if not likely - that alien planets would have plant life (As in, organisms functionally similar to Earth's plants) containing different pigments, especially since green is an non-optimal colour.

There are several common pigments which could be used as plant colours, but their shade differs depending on the spectral type of the star. The cooler the star, the darker the hue, meaning that F-, G- and some K-type stars have the potential support the widest variety of colours (The coolest stars make all the pigments black or near-black, and the hottest ones make them whiteish).

The star which my planet orbits is a G-type star, so it's got a good selection of possible colours.

These are the plant colours, with their pigments, which I have considered having (Definitely green):

• Green - Chlorophyll (Confirmed)
• Purple - Bacteriorhospin
• Yellow/Orange - Carotenes
• Pink - Phycoethryn
• Blue - Phycocyanin

So, my question is: Can a planet support flora of different pigments, living alongside eachother, without one pigment outcompeting the others?

I don't see how pigments could "occupy different ecological niches", because their job is just to absorb light. And since some colours absorb more light than others, I'm not sure if green, orange, pink and blue plants could live in the same ecosystem.

posted almost 6 years ago

SealBoi‭

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