This interesting little piece caught my eye, as it raises the question of awareness in non-human, and even non-animal, species.
Many of us tend to accept that dolphins or chimps or our pet dogs are smart, thinking, feeling, ‘aware’ creatures. We can relate to them.
We also tend to scoff at those who talk to their plants. Some things are just ‘over the top’, right?
I admit I am one of these doubters.
This report, on how plants can help us make climate-change models more accurate, makes us question the absoluteness of such assumptions.
According to a recent press release dated 2-Jul-2009 from the FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology:
Plants' internal clock can improve climate-change models
The ability of plants to tell the time, a mechanism common to all living beings, enables them to survive, grow and reproduce. In a study published in the latest issue of the prestigious journal Ecology Letters, an international team has studied this circadian clock from a molecular viewpoint and has found an ecological implication: it makes climate change scenarios and CO2 level figures more accurate.
The international team of researchers led by the University of Castilla-La-Mancha (UCLM) has compiled the research carried out to date on this topic in order to understand the implications of the so-called "circadian clock" as regards the survival and ecology of a wide range of plant species. The plants of the model species Arabidopsis thaliana, created in a laboratory environment without this ability, found it difficult to survive and reproduced less frequently.
"One hour before the sun comes out, a plant with a circadian clock already knows that it is time to wake up and all the genes associated to photosynthesis begin to activate," Víctor Resco de Dios, main author of the study and a researcher in the Environmental Science Department of the UCLM explained to SINC.
The study, which has been published in the latest issue of Ecology Letters, reveals the ecological implications of plants' ability to "tell the time". Researchers have studied the genes involved in photosynthesis and adapting to the climate.
As much as 90% of a plant's genes are regulated by the circadian clock. "The clock coordinates when a plant should flower and also when it should germinate a seed," Resco de Dios adds. According to the scientist, the circadian clock has a great capacity to adapt to its physical environment.
The Key to Surviving an Increase in Temperatures?
Plants take up CO2 by means of photosynthesis and can potentially mitigate climate change. However, "in studies performed by ecologists to ascertain the level of CO2 in the models, circadian regulation was not taken into account," the researcher underlines.
The team of scientists suggests this regulation should be included in climate models based on the study of plant life in order to obtain better and more accurate results. "A normal climate change model would forecast photosynthesis to be uniform between 6am and 10am in a tropical forest if environmental conditions (light, humidity, temperature, etc) are constant. However, as plants have a circadian clock, photosynthesis is seen to increase during that time of the day", the ecologist states.
The report concludes that, according to the scientists, the circadian clock may well be the key for plants to survive a rise in temperatures. Plants without optimised circadian regulation will have "more difficulty to adjust to climate changes and survive the stress". The team now encourages further research from an ecological viewpoint, as "the value of this topic has been underestimated."
The natural world is more wondrous than we can imagine. I am a believer that if we learn from nature and work with her, rather than try to use her for our own selfish ends (if we don’t try to profit without regard for protecting and sustaining the gifts the Earth gives us) then we can all benefit in the long-term.
If, in fact, plants do have awareness of any kind, that opens the door to speculating that every form of life is indeed more complex, mysterious and ‘evolved’ than we have ever imagined. Which is, first of all, humbling, and next, offers us a tremendous opportunity to respect and learn from nature so humans, and the Earth, can live in true harmony . . . and possibly reverse the looming ecological crisis.
For more on the research into awareness and communication in plants and other life forms, (whatever your stance):
About communication in plant communities.
About the plant-root and chemical communications.
About potential awareness in plants
Press release references:
Resco, Víctor; Hartwell, James; Hall, Anthony. "Ecological implications of plants' ability to tell the time" Ecology Letters 12(6): 583-592 junio de 2009.
Comments
wow.....great article..... what would this world be like if everyone was humble enough to really study what nature has to teach.....the more we learn the more the miraculous this whole thing called LIFE becomes....
I wonder if anyone remembers the experiments with plants carried out in the 70's & 80's using lie detectors....Double blind studies that showed plants fearing people with negative moods and reacting to positive moods. There was a book by a scientist/minister (in biology) called, "The power of prayer over plants", detailing thousands of experiments with plants.
Very interesting stuff.
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