Roots Communicating

My previous blogs have mainly focused on how plant communicate and respond when something negative is happening within their environment, such as the attack of herbivores or drought like conditions occurring. 

Generally when plants detect and respond to neighbours under competition their method of preservation is avoidance by attempting to grow away from the competition. Through their root systems plants are constantly interacting with each other but by which mechanisms they use is still poorly understood (Callaway 2002).

In a recent study performed by Gersani et al (2001) he compared the growth of root systems in soy beans that had sole possession of growth space with those that were sharing space and resources. The plants with more space to grow produced 85% larger root mass then the sharing plants. Although the plants that were under competition showed increase root growth, even though it was at a reproductive cost for them. This over production can be explained by the fact that shared resources are more likely to be lost to competition than resources to which an organism has exclusive rights. Their studies also suggested that roots have the ability to perceive roots from that same species that are non-self and react aggressively to increase their root density in contest for resources. 

Unfortunately the ways in which roots communicate aren’t well known. What is also an interesting topic is how roots are able to identify root systems from their own species and from other species. This is hopefully a topic that there will be more research invested into it. 

References

 Gersani, M, et al . (2001) Tradegy of the commons as a result of root competition, Journal of Ecology. 89, 660-669 pp.

Callaway. M., R. (2002) The detection of neighbors by plants. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 3. 104-105.