Plants Communicate Using Underground Fungi
Plants can communicate using underground fungi.
Plants have their own ways of communicating.
Researchers in the United Kingdom have recently discovered that plants use underground fungi connections called mycorrhizae to let other plants know about parasites like aphids.
Many plants give off certain chemicals when they are infested to prevent the parasites from destroying them.
The chemicals serve to repel aphids and attract wasps, which are the aphid’s natural predator.
The study grew sets of plants, some of which were allowed to develop mycorrhizae connections, while others were isolated.
They prevented air communication by putting the plants in bags, and then infested some of the plants with aphids.
The plants that were connected to the infested plant changed their chemical make-up, while the isolated plants failed to react.
Another study on the connection that plants have between each other suggests that plants might be able to use their acoustical surroundings to communicate.
Researchers from the University of Western Australia have shown that the plants changed their growth based on what kinds of plants live next to them, even if they were visually and chemically cut off from each other using black plastic covering.
Plants have their own ways of communicating.
Researchers in the United Kingdom have recently discovered that plants use underground fungi connections called mycorrhizae to let other plants know about parasites like aphids.
Many plants give off certain chemicals when they are infested to prevent the parasites from destroying them.
The chemicals serve to repel aphids and attract wasps, which are the aphid’s natural predator.
The study grew sets of plants, some of which were allowed to develop mycorrhizae connections, while others were isolated.
They prevented air communication by putting the plants in bags, and then infested some of the plants with aphids.
The plants that were connected to the infested plant changed their chemical make-up, while the isolated plants failed to react.
Another study on the connection that plants have between each other suggests that plants might be able to use their acoustical surroundings to communicate.
Researchers from the University of Western Australia have shown that the plants changed their growth based on what kinds of plants live next to them, even if they were visually and chemically cut off from each other using black plastic covering.