Plant life

Plants can tell if they are being touched

/ susanbulanda / Leave a comment

Even though plants do not have nerves, they know when they are being touched and when the touching stops. Researchers at Washington State University conducted experiments and found that increase or decrease of pressure on internal cells in plants recognize touch. It also seems that any of the cells in plants react to touch not just certain ones. In past research, it was noted that when a caterpillar bites a plant leaf, the plant can respond with a defensive mechanism that repels the caterpillar. Also, brushing a plant triggers calcium waves that activate different genes. Scientists want to conduct further studies to understand plant sensitivity.

Journal Reference:

  1. Alexander H. Howell, Carsten Völkner, Patrick McGreevy, Kaare H. Jensen, Rainer Waadt, Simon Gilroy, Hans-Henning Kunz, Winfried S. Peters, Michael Knoblauch. Pavement cells distinguish touch from letting go. Nature Plants, 2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41477-023-01418-9

Cite This Page:

Washington State University. “Plants can distinguish when touch starts and stops, study suggests.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 May 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230531101953.htm>.

Jellyfish intelligence

/ susanbulanda / 3 Comments

Jan Bielecki of Kiel University, Germany has discovered that even though jellyfish have no brain, they are able to learn from past experience, the same as humans, mice, and flies.  

         The researchers were able to train Caribbean box jellyfish (Tripedalia cystophyora), who are no bigger than a fingernail, to learn to spot and dodge obstacles. These jellyfish live in mangrove swamps and have 24 eyes in their body.

         The researchers learned that the combination of visual and mechanical stimulus resulted in associative learning. They were also surprised that the jellyfish learned at the same quick pace as advanced animals.  

Journal Reference:

  1. Jan Bielecki, Sofie Katrine Dam Nielsen, Gösta Nachman, Anders Garm. Associative learning in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora. Current Biology, 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.08.056

Cite This Page:

Cell Press. “Jellyfish, with no central brain, shown to learn from past experience.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 September 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230922110845.htm>.

Sue’s Note: There is so much we do not know about our world. When you couple findings such as this with plant neurobiology as mentioned in my previous post on this topic, it is not surprising. It also should make my readers rethink the topics of communication and learning which go beyond the human experience.

Plants are smarter than you think

/ susanbulanda / 2 Comments

The concept of plants “thinking” and “communicating” are mind boggling to some people. The field of plant neurobiology is a fascinating subject that can stretch the imagination. While I normally do not post article of this nature, I wanted to share some of the research on this topic.

One of the latest articles that deal with plants has shown that plants feel pressure as well as a lack of pressure, and know the difference. Although they do not have nerves as we do, they still have a system that lets them know when something touches them and when the pressure is relieved.

Plants also communicate and support each other. For example, the mother tree will feed its saplings through the roots. This is how young saplings in deep forests survive. They are often in shaded areas where they cannot photosynthesize due to a lack of sunlight and depend on the parent tree to feed them.

If that is not enough, studies have shown that some plants (and perhaps all) have the ability to “hear” sounds. They detect certain frequencies and respond to them, yet ignore other frequencies.

When plants detect danger, such as a disease, they send out a signal to the plants around them who respond by preparing their own defense as a response.  

If you think about all of this, it expands the concept of communication and even relationships beyond what we experience. For me, it opens my mind to what animals can do, and that we have just scratched the surface in understanding the depth of their world.

I hope my readers have enjoyed my musings.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering-trees-180968084/#:~:text=For%20young%20saplings%20in%20a,their%20roots%20through%20the%20network.

https://now.northropgrumman.com/can-plants-hear-the-science-of-sound-sensing-flora

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3405699/#:~:text=Plants%20emit%20volatile%20organic%20compounds,own%20defense%20weapons%20in%20response.

Journal Reference:

  1. Alexander H. Howell, Carsten Völkner, Patrick McGreevy, Kaare H. Jensen, Rainer Waadt, Simon Gilroy, Hans-Henning Kunz, Winfried S. Peters, Michael Knoblauch. Pavement cells distinguish touch from letting go. Nature Plants, 2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41477-023-01418-9

Cite This Page:

Washington State University. “Plants can distinguish when touch starts and stops, study suggests.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 May 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230531101953.htm>.

Pet safety tips from House Method

/ susanbulanda / Leave a comment

Hi Loyal Followers,

Every once in a while, someone sends me interesting articles to post on my blog or web site. Dylan Farrow, the Editor for pet care and pet safety at House Method sent me four articles that I thought I would share with you. All the information is good.

DSCN1778 Rolly 2

I have only one exception to the recommendation in one of the articles. It says that you must bathe your dog once a month. This is not always a good idea because it can dry your dog’s coat causing your dog’s skin to flake. Dog coats are not meant to be washed that often. Some breeds that have oilier coats can tolerate it, but please check with your veterinarian or groomer to see how often your dog needs a bath.

Sue

Pet Safety Guide

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Beech trees are dying, and nobody’s sure why

/ susanbulanda / 2 Comments

I do not often write about plants since my expertise is mainly dogs and cats, but as a tree lover, I felt it important to pass along this information.

“In a study published in the journal Forest Pathology, researchers and naturalists from The Ohio State University and metroparks in northeastern Ohio report on the emerging “beech leaf disease” epidemic, calling for speedy work to find a culprit so that work can begin to stop its spread.”

The disease has been found in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Canada. If a tree is infected it will have dark green bands between the veins of the leaves. As the disease progresses the leaves get very dark, shrink and get leathery. Then the limbs that have the disease do not produce buds. From there the tree dies. According to the report young trees are usually hit harder than older trees.

Trees of all kinds are important to wildlife and people. We have already had an infestation in parts of the country that have killed Oak trees and Hemlocks. Elm trees never recovered from the Dutch Elm disease. I would hate to see another species of tree die.

If you suspect that any of your trees are affected, I would suggest that you contact your local agricultural agency or DCNR office. Let’s hope that we can stop the Beech tree disease.

beech

Beech leaf disease symptoms include dark banding between the veins in early stages, followed by crinkling leaves.

Credit: Forest Pathology, Ohio State