Plants reveal decision-making abilities under competition

Biologists have demonstrated that plants can choose between alternative competitive responses according to the stature and densities of their opponents. A new study by researchers reveals that plants can evaluate the competitive ability of their neighbors and optimally match their responses to them.

Animals facing competition have been shown to optimally choose between different behaviors, including confrontation, avoidance and tolerance, depending on the competitive ability of their opponents relative to their own. For example, if their competitors are bigger or stronger, animals are expected to “give up the fight” and choose avoidance or tolerance over confrontation, according to Science Daily.

 Plants can detect the presence of other competing plants through various cues, such as the reduction in light quantity or in the ratio of red to far-red wavelengths (R:FR), which occurs when light is filtered through leaves. Such competition cues are known to induce two types of responses: confrontational vertical elongation, by which plants try to outgrow and shade their neighbors, and shade tolerance, which promotes performance under limited light conditions. Some plants, such as clonal plants, can exhibit avoidance behavior as a third response type: they grow away from their neighbors. “These three alternative responses of plants to light competition have been well-documented in the literature,” says Michal Gruntman, lead author of the paper. “In our study we wanted to learn, if plants can choose between these responses and match them to the relative size and density of their opponents.”

To answer this question, the researchers used the clonal plant Potentilla reptans in an experimental setup that simulated different light-competition settings. They used vertical stripes of transparent green filters that reduce both light quantity and R:FR and could therefore provide a realistic simulation of light competition. By changing both the height and density of this simulated vegetation, the researchers could present different light-competition scenarios to the plants.

The results demonstrated that Potentilla reptans can indeed choose its response to competition in an optimal way. When the plants were under treatments simulating short-dense neighbors, which presented competitors that where too dense to avoid laterally but could be outgrown vertically, Potentilla reptans showed the highest confrontational vertical growth. However, under simulated tall-dense neighbors, which could not be outgrown either vertically or laterally, plants displayed the highest shade tolerance behavior. Lastly, under tall-sparse neighbors, which could only be avoided laterally, plants exhibited the highest lateral-avoidance behaviors.

The findings of this study reveal that plants can evaluate the density and competitive ability of their neighbors and tailor their responses accordingly. “Such an ability to choose between different responses according to their outcome could be particularly important in heterogeneous environments, where plants can grow by chance under neighbors with different size, age or density, and should therefore be able to choose their appropriate strategy” says Gruntman. This study provides new evidence for the ability of plants to integrate complex information about their environment and respond to it in an optimal way.

N.H.Kh

You might also like
Latest news
Sheikh Qassem: We cannot leave Beirut under Israeli enemy's strikes, the enemy will pay the price 36 people martyred, more than 50 others injured in Israeli aggression on Palmyra city “Deir Ezzor, Memory of the Old City” a photographic  exhibition by photographer Jumaa Al-Suleiman  On International Children's Day, Ministry of Social Affairs completes the National Strategy for Chil... Putin confirms Russia’s readiness to assist CAR with security challenges 43985 martyrs since the beginning of the Israeli war of extermination in Gaza Strip Palestinian Prisoners' Commission and the Prisoners' Club: The occupation's brutality against childr... Russian Foreign Intelligence Service says Russia to address NATO’s engagement in strikes deep inside... Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls for providing international protection for children Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza Strip: "The occupation does not allow anything to ... The occupation continues its aggression on Jenin and its camp 14 martyrs, a number of wounded in the occupation's bombing of Gaza Strip A Lebanese Army Soldier and Five Civilians Martyred in Israeli occupation Airstrikes Venezuela Rejects U.S. Recognition of Edmundo González as President-Elect Al-Dahhak: The continuous US-backed Israeli crimes pose serious threat to regional and international... Omani Embassy in Damascus holds reception on the 54th anniversary of Oman's National Day  Kharita at "COP 29": The need to increase funding for countries to fulfill their obligations Palestinian Health Ministry: Israeli occupation killed 1,000 Palestinian doctors, nurses during its ... Pushilin calls for enhancing cooperation between the Donetsk Republic and Syria Pakistani plane, carrying aid for displaced people coming from Lebanon, arrives at Damascus Airport