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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Plants 'talk' to warn each other of threats
  • Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:40:43 -0600




Plants 'talk' to warn each other of threats
Plants can "talk" to each other to warn their neighbours of potential
threats, scientists believe.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/5595619/Plants-talk-to-warn-each-

other-of-threats.html
Published: 6:45AM BST 22 Jun 2009


Two decades after the Prince of Wales invited derision by saying that
plants respond to human speech, a study has shown that their communication
skills are much more advanced than previously thought.

Chemical messages exchanged between plants allow them to send out alerts
when pests attack and even discuss the presence of pollinators such as
bees, the research indicates.


In tests, sagebrush shrubs had their leaves "clipped" as if they were being
eaten by grasshoppers or other herbivores.

Other sagebrush plants growing near the clipped shrubs proved more
resilient than control plants without damaged neighbours, indicating that
they had received warning of the threat.

"Plants not only respond to reliable cues in their environments but also
produce cues that communicate with other plants and with other organisms,"
said Richard Karban of the University of California, who coauthored the
study with Kaori Shiojiri of Kyoto University.

The research, which is published in the journal Ecology Letters, showed
that plants are "capable of more sophisticated behaviour than we imagined,"
Prof Karban added.

The Prince of Wales was widely mocked by gardeners for saying that it was
"very important" to talk to plants, but a recent study by the Royal
Horticultural Society found that tomato plants do respond to the human
voice.








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