PLANT TALK!!!

Root communication among desert shrubs.

Mahall BE, Callaway RM.

Descriptive and experimental studies of desert shrub distributions have revealed important questions about the mechanisms by which plants interact. For example, do roots interact by mechanisms other than simple competition for limiting resources? We investigated this question using the desert shrubs Ambrosia dumosa and Larrea tridentata grown in chambers that allowed observation of roots during intraplant and intra- and interspecific interplant encounters. Two types of root "communication" were revealed. Ambrosia root systems appear to be capable of detecting and avoiding other Ambrosia root systems, whereas Larrea roots inhibit Larrea and Ambrosia roots in their vicinity.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Feb 1;88(3):874-6.

Why is this cool?

 Plants are just completely amazing, because they provide us with food, material for clothing, poison, and perfumes. Given the vast ecological and personal importance that plants have, it is odd that their more unique features are not more highly publicized. Today's paper investigates the communication between plants!

Ambrosia dumosa

 What did they did? They grew two different desert shrub species (Ambrosia dumosa and Larrea tridentata) together in various combinations and there were able to show that "Ambrosia root systems appear to be capable of detecting and avoiding other Ambrosia root systems, whereas Larrea roots inhibit Larrea and Ambrosia roots in their vicinity." Amazing! Some important questions to be answered are:
1. How widespread is this interaction?
2. Are there examples of plants interacting to benefit each other?
3. Do these shrubs communicate in any other ways?

Larrea tridentata

 I see this paper as a step in the direction of understanding communication between non-mobile beings. It could be a clockwork situation were a given set of circumstances are met and then a given set of responses are given. As a plant evolves in a more complex environment then circumstances and accepted stimuli could give responses that are amazingly epic! What kind of responses?

 Maybe plants would develop unique behavioral weapons against humans!! Just like the Happening! The worst case scenario would be Ents. Those tree looking things are useless.