Plants do chat with each other

London, June 22 (ANI): Plants do talk to one another to warn about predators, and are "capable of more sophisticated behaviour than we imagined", according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of California and Kyoto University have found that subtle chemical messages to discuss pollinators such as bees, potential dangers and even animals, which might attack their enemies.

The team clipped sagebrush shrubs in a way that copied the behaviour of herbivores eating leaves.

The plants seeped chemicals to warn about the danger of being eaten by grasshoppers.

It was found that shrubs close to those that had been clipped were more resilient than damaged neighbours, which clearly indicated that plants were communicating.

"Plants are capable of responding to complex cues that involve multiple stimuli. Plants not only respond to reliable cues in their environments but also produce cues that communicate with other plants and with other organisms, such as pollinators, seed dispersers, herbivores and enemies of those herbivores," the Daily Express quoted Prof Richard Karban as saying.

He added: "We explored self-recognition in the context of plant resistance. Previously we found that sagebrush became more resistant to herbivores after exposure to volatile cues from experimentally-damaged neighbours." (ANI)