Anthony Trewavas
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199539543
- eISBN:
- 9780191788291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199539543.003.0009
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
This chapter describes the varieties of behaviour exhibited by plants, all of which indicates a remarkable degree of sensory perception, assessment, forecasting, and purpose. Higher plants can ...
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This chapter describes the varieties of behaviour exhibited by plants, all of which indicates a remarkable degree of sensory perception, assessment, forecasting, and purpose. Higher plants can discriminate among different environments and choose those that are more beneficial. Once decisions are initially made, they can be corrected after due assessment. Much research shows that plants have the ability to sense each other and avoid entanglement. Competition from other plants causes growth to be redirected away from competitors. Alternatively, phenotypic changes are used to outstrip competitors. Various chemicals can be sensed, including numerous volatiles, and growth can be directed along a gradient of them. Light or mineral gradients are equally used to direct to better growth resources. Behaviour to herbivores, disease pests, and various stresses can be modified by priming. On receipt of a first signal, subsequent responses are faster and larger in the primed plant. Habituation and conditioned behaviour have also been recorded. The ability to investigate, search, survey, examine, and discover is also reported in the literature. Much plant response requires an assessment of likely futures and is active, rather than passive. Phenotypic adjustment is slow, assessing a potential future is essential to avoid the response arriving when the original signal or environment has fundamentally changed. Such behaviour is purposeful, goal-directed, and probably intentional. Finally, plants can assess cost against benefits in situations that may require multiple possible decisions. Although phenotypic adjustment is considered irreversible, except for abscission, at the molecular level, behaviour is reversible.Less
This chapter describes the varieties of behaviour exhibited by plants, all of which indicates a remarkable degree of sensory perception, assessment, forecasting, and purpose. Higher plants can discriminate among different environments and choose those that are more beneficial. Once decisions are initially made, they can be corrected after due assessment. Much research shows that plants have the ability to sense each other and avoid entanglement. Competition from other plants causes growth to be redirected away from competitors. Alternatively, phenotypic changes are used to outstrip competitors. Various chemicals can be sensed, including numerous volatiles, and growth can be directed along a gradient of them. Light or mineral gradients are equally used to direct to better growth resources. Behaviour to herbivores, disease pests, and various stresses can be modified by priming. On receipt of a first signal, subsequent responses are faster and larger in the primed plant. Habituation and conditioned behaviour have also been recorded. The ability to investigate, search, survey, examine, and discover is also reported in the literature. Much plant response requires an assessment of likely futures and is active, rather than passive. Phenotypic adjustment is slow, assessing a potential future is essential to avoid the response arriving when the original signal or environment has fundamentally changed. Such behaviour is purposeful, goal-directed, and probably intentional. Finally, plants can assess cost against benefits in situations that may require multiple possible decisions. Although phenotypic adjustment is considered irreversible, except for abscission, at the molecular level, behaviour is reversible.
