University:
Swansea University
Course:
CH302 | Organic Chemistry
Academic year:

2024
Views:

383

Pages:

2
Author:

customer-8371996

Plants and their behaviours. Behavior 1: Finding Light and Nutrients Description: Plants actively seek essential resources like sunlight and soil nutrients vital for their survival. Above ground, they exhibit growth patterns that track the Sun’s movement, orienting their leaves and stems to maximize light absorption. Below ground, roots explore the soil, targeting nutrient-rich patches with increased growth where nutrients are detected. Mechanism: Plants use photoreceptors in their leaves to detect light direction and intensity, enabling them to grow toward optimal light sources, this behavior is known as phototropism. For nutrient detection, plant roots sense chemical signals in the soil. Time-lapse studies show roots accelerating growth as they approach nutrient patches and slowing down once the nutrient is absorbed, indicating a targeted response. Parasitic plants, like the daughter vine, detect volatile chemical cues from potential host plants to find and attach to them. Importance: Access to light and nutrients is fundamental for photosynthesis and metabolic activities. Coordinated growth toward these resources allows plants to survive, reproduce, and maintain tissue health. This behavior enhances individual plant fitness and contributes to ecosystem productivity. Behavior 2: Chemical Communication and Defense Description: Plants communicate chemically to defend themselves and warn neighbors of danger. When attacked by herbivores, they release volatile organic compounds that act as distress signals, recruiting predatory insects to combat their attackers. Mechanism: The plant detects specific compounds in herbivore saliva, triggering the production of toxins like nicotine, which poisons many herbivores. It emits airborne chemicals signaling predators such as the big-eyed bug, which feed on the attacking insects. Neighboring plants can also detect these signals and preemptively activate their defenses, demonstrating a form of inter-plant communication. Importance: This defense system enhances plant survival by reducing herbivory. It also shapes food web dynamics by recruiting natural enemies of pests, contributing to pest control and ecosystem balance. Behavior 3: Social Interaction and Kin Recognition Description: Plants can recognize kin and adjust their behavior to reduce competition or cooperatively enhance resource use. For example, siblings growing together may restrain root expansion to avoid exhausting shared resources. Mechanism: Plants release and detect chemical signals from neighboring roots, allowing them to discern kin from non-kin. Experiments show that without chemical cues, plants treat siblings as strangers and compete aggressively. Additionally, fungal networks connect trees underground, enabling resource sharing, especially from older "mother" trees to seedlings. Importance: Kin recognition improves genetic fitness by minimizing competition among relatives and enhancing the survival chances of offspring. Resource sharing through underground networks fosters forest health, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience.