Self-Aware Plants

Jessica Pherson
sagebrushlp.jpg

According to research published in Ecology Letters, a UC-Davis experiment reveals that sagebrush have the ability to “look out for their own kind.” It appears that damaged plants (ones that had their branches clipped) were able to recognize the fact that they had lost a part of them, and consequently, reacted by sending out a type of unseen chemical to drive away predators, such as grasshoppers. For the experiment, some of the clippings were set near the clipped plant, while others were set near unclipped plants. The clipped branches set near the parent plant showed an increase in survival and also a higher rate of deterrence against predators.

Image: "Sagebrush" by brewbooks on Flickr courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing.


Comments

Self-Absorbed

Submitted by sniffcode.com on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 19:38.
I think most life is self-aware, even if it lacks the capacity to let us know that. Human beings have to get off this high horse and make room for the rest of life. www.sniffcode.com

...didn't we already know this?

Submitted by Andrew Alvarez on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 11:51.
I just finished reading "The Secret Life of Plants" by Tompkins, which details dozens of amazing experiments done over the past hundred years with plants, including pretty substantial evidence supporting the idea that plants are conscious.

I loved the book, but it was published in 1973, and I'm confused as to why there hasn't been any continuation of the various intense research studies described in it, or at least why there hasn't been a wider interest among the general public.

Or maybe there has, and my Google skills are failing me?

yes, we do know of this behavior

Submitted by Diespiter on Sat, 07/11/2009 - 21:42.

Hey Andrew, if you want more (albeit a small amount) of information on this particular research read 'Intelligence in Nature' by Jeremy Darby, also author of 'The Cosmic Serpent'.

The book itself looks perhaps to try to define intelligence, while seeking to find it elsewhere in nature outside of the human form.

If I recall correctly,  the book is broken into parts, with each part focusing on a specific realm of life. The part which focuses on plants and trees is where you will find information on research where trees have been known to respond in a similar fashion as this sagebrush. 

And I really enjoy his remarks on a tree being an entire nervous system, essentially a brain, or computer.