Commenting on my last post about plant behaviour, Jim mentioned a paper by Marian Smith on plant responses to being touched or shaken. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the link to work, but I did a Google Scholar search on the name & topic & got this: Plant growth responses to touch – literally a ‘hands-on’ exercise! […]
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plants – much more than you expect
One of the Biology Standards year 13 students study is called ‘Describe animal behaviour & plant responses’. Now, if ‘behaviour’ = response to a stimulus, then that’s really what plants are doing too. I guess it’s just hard to think that something (usually) green, (usually) fixed in place, & with no nerves or muscles is […]
Continue readingantibiotics in nature
Last year’s Schol Bio paper had a question about allelopathy. The context centred on Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra). These are large deciduous trees with an extensive root system – and they release an allelopathic chemical called juglone, which has a number of toxic effects on a range of other plant species. This ability to kill […]
Continue readingroses are red
But not, says a press release, for the usual reasons. Over my muesli this morning I read an item in the Herald (sorry, the link’s to the identical item in a UK paper cos the Herald website doesn’t carry it) saying that a group of scientists had ‘disproved the theory’ that competition for pollinators led to the […]
Continue readinga three-way symbiosis
Here’s a really interesting story that I picked up on while reading ERV’s blog. We hear about 2-way symbioses/mutualisms (fungus+alga & fungus+cyanobacterium in lichens, & the mycorrhizal relationship between plants & fungi) – but here’s something special: a three-way symbiosis between a fungus, a grass – & a virus (Marquez et al., 2008).
Continue readingapparent beneficial effect of Bt-cotton crops
Way back in 2004, the first of the ‘new’ Scholarship exams asked students to: Compare and contrast the ecological and evolutionary outcomes of releasing herbicide tolerant and insect resistant GM plants. It’s an interesting question. I suspect that a lot of the answers would have focused on the potential negative environmental effects of releasing these GM […]
Continue readingthe beauty & wonder of science
I remember reading one of Richard Dawkins’ books in which he made the comment that a rainbow does not become any less beautiful just because we understand how it’s formed. Now I’ve come across a similar statement in another book (The Single Helix) by one of my favourite science writers, Steve Jones.
Continue readingCan plants hunt?
Is this a trick question? No. While the majority of plants are free-living autotrophs, some are parasites on other plants (think mistletoe, for example). And while the seeds of many of these parasitic plants won't germinate unless they are in contact with host plant tissue, this isn't true of dodder (Cuscuta species). Dodder actively seeks out […]
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