Plants Can Tell When They’re Being Eaten

I am personally fascinated by the notion of intelligence... defining and refining the definition of the term and deciding how to appropriately apply it to non-human life. I am also aware that the "intelligence" of plants is a favorite subject of discussion with many of ATS members. with that in mind....

the study showed that when the plants felt or heard the caterpillar-munching vibrations, they sent out extra mustard oils into the leaves. When they felt or heard other vibrations? Nothing. It’s a far more dynamic defense than scientists had realized: the plant is more aware of its surroundings and able to respond than expected.

modernfarmer.com...
www.agweb.com...
the study

I guess that's why so many ancient traditions encourage respect for the spirit of plants
funny how science is sometimes ( ha, often) a few thousand years behind wisdom


sandF

a reply to: tgidkp

are you familiar with "Supernature" by lyall watson? lots of experimental data in there concerning plants relationship with other plants and their environment.

Kind of leaves vegetarians in a dilemma doesn't it? I'm not a vegetarian but am thankful for the lives of animals and plants that sustain and nourish me.

a reply to: tgidkp

\plants are so amazing like that...when I was first in college I started in botany and I remember reading about walnut trees secreting juglones to poison the other plants around it...there is a war going on with plants at all times it is very interesting...

this is also kind of goes along with that study where the plants would react to fire and things like that...

guess all the vegans have to think twice now haha

a reply to: tgidkp
Thank you for this. Take that, self righteous vegans!

*sniffles and wipes tears.

I want to tell you a story about my friend "snow-pea" and this mean farmer.

Well, (wipes more tears) I ate snow-pea and her friend betty the bunny. Their screams were horrid but now I'm full.

The end!

Trees groan when they are cut down, too.I prefer to listen to them whisper.

a reply to: tgidkp


Great topic

As a self proclaimed and confirmed omnivore, If I could only eat vegetables that I grew by my own hands I would. It's just not possible for me to do where I live presently.


P.S. I like my steak Medium rare with veggies.

originally posted by: Night Star
Kind of leaves vegetarians in a dilemma doesn't it? I'm not a vegetarian but am thankful for the lives of animals and plants that sustain and nourish me.

Not really. Plant life is a part of a system. This has been shown in vast forests where one region compensates for another. Eating a leaf is different than tearing up the plant and tearing up the plant is different than tearing up the garden and tearing up the garden is different than burning down the forest where the garden resides.

You can either sheer the sheep or slit its throat. You can either milk a cow or tear into her flesh. Likewise, you can either responsibly coexist with plant life symbiotically or you can burn it all down.

This is the kind of study that meat eaters need to have at the ready the next time a smug vegan points out that poor little bambi was murdered for that venison.

Life is Life.
If something is alive it will seek to stay that way and/or adapt to the environment to do such. From the smallest microbe, plant, fungus or lichen, invertebrate and vertebrate, Life is a force in this Universe. This is another reminder to be mindful and repectful of all Life. Not saying go hug a cobra or give warm fuzzies to E. Coli, just be aware.

originally posted by: tgidkp
I am personally fascinated by the notion of intelligence... defining and refining the definition of the term and deciding how to appropriately apply it to non-human life...

I don't know if it's "intelligence", but it does not surprise me that a plant can release certain chemicals in response to a stimuli (such as part of it being eaten).

There is a circulatory system in plants, so I can see that if one part of it is being eaten, those disturbed cells can release chemicals that spread through the plant's circulatory system, thus telling other cells in the plant that it is being eaten.


For example, when we cut ourselves, not all of the body's reaction to that cut comes from our brains; some of those reactions are automatic/mechanical reactions that occur around the wound. Our brains are not what tells white blood cells and platelets to rush to a wound -- that is all just a mechanical response to the physical act of being cut...

...i.e., the excess blood flow at the site of the cut is what triggers the blood vessels and capillaries to constrict, and that blood vessel constriction is what causes white blood cells and platelets to go to the site of the cut.

Much of the what happens in our bodies when we cut ourselves is a mechanical response, not a neurological response, the same way that these plants releasing chemicals upon being eaten could be a mechanical response.

This is interesting, but it is something I can honestly say, I didn't need to hear from the [science] community.
Various indigenous peoples have said this. I was taught by my ancestors to always speak to them, explain to them why you need them and how important they are.
I am a vegetarian and I think this is great. Unlike the many people here that have that "take that" attitude.
I believe it makes my relationship with the planet, even more intimate than I thought before.
Veg power.


Danbones and cuervo. You guys are great.
Peace and Blessings to all.

Reminds me of an ATS thread where I read about a study of communication in the Forest. The study found these kind of Sub-groups, each having a "Mother Tree"(usually the biggest/oldest in the area. Under the ground a fungus surrounded the roots of all of the trees maybe even all of the plants that somehow enabled or assisted with sending signals. A biological network if you will. Each individual scours the Earth around itself for nutrients, minerals, water, etc.. Strangely, if a tree found potassium (for example), and a tree on the other side of the group needed potassium, the 1st could mine it and send it down the line. They were working together.

I wonder if it goes as deep as, say that tree that found potassium dies, do the other trees know it's gone? Are they concerned about the tree, or even concerned about the loss of the nutrient source. "I need potassium YOU send ME some" to me imply's an understanding of SELF and OTHERS. I guess we know now that there is pretty much always an observer, so yes a tree always makes a sound when it falls in the Forest.

Kinda' makes you wonder how deep does it go? We think we are the top dogs, but what if we are the only ones not invited to the party. The only ones who don't speak the language. Didn't suicide rates go up after that movie Avatar? We are always sooo sad once it's to late.

originally posted by: Night Star
Kind of leaves vegetarians in a dilemma doesn't it? I'm not a vegetarian but am thankful for the lives of animals and plants that sustain and nourish me.

Plants can be grown on a mass scale as a food source without putting them in appalling and inhuman conditions, in fact a plant won’t even grow to produce food unless you do it in a way that stimulates it’s natural conditions. Not to mention that with our ever-expanding population the meat industry is simply unsustainable in the long run, if we are going to have any chance of feeding so much people. It’s a primitive practice that will become damn near extinct within generations. So no, this won’t have any significance for anyone who’s a vegetarian purely for logical reasons.

Anyway, plants obviously have the ability to respond to there environment, you just have to observe how a plant points in the direction of the sun throughout the day to see this. But it shouldn't be confused with what we would define as being “aware”. It’s very unlikely the plant has made a conscious decision to react, but rather it is most likely just carrying out random instinctive tasks that it has inherited though evolution.

To make the argument the plant was physically “aware”, you would need to somehow establish that it made a conscious choice whether to react.

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

Plants can be grown on a mass scale as a food source without putting them in appalling and inhuman conditions

I think we should get a plant's opinion on this. Why should we trust you?

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
This is the kind of study that meat eaters need to have at the ready the next time a smug vegan points out that poor little bambi was murdered for that venison.

I was only thinking of the plants I was saving when I shot Bambi's Mom last year... and his brother. They were eating soybeans like they were going out of style.

a reply to: tgidkp

Apparently plants can also scream in pain when they are malnourished, but those screams can't be heard by a human ear- just like a dog whistle.

My pepper bushes are my babies-And I often give then verbal encouragement because some evidence suggests that has a positive effect on their growth. I'Il chant "grow my pretties, grow!" as I water them and I believe they do respond better when I talk to them.

I wonder what the weeds would be feeling when I uproot them from my pepper pots- I can imagine them hissing at me like a vampire would after being exposed to sunlight.

Plants are sentient. We're mostly too ignorant to believe something that cannot speak to us is actually living.