Plants Share Their Food!

We've learned how plants can compete for sunshine and water and space. We know they can communicate with each other through the soil and the air. But now we've learned that plants, particularly trees, can also share their food! (Big thanks to Alert Gardener Jim for this news flash.)

Tropical Garden, MRobb

 
 "Competition between individual plants for resources is well known, but sharing of resources may also occur. Klein et al. observed tree-to-tree carbon shuttling between roots of tall trees in a mixed temperate forest in Switzerland (see the Perspective by van der Heijden). By applying stable carbon isotope labeling to individual tree canopies, they show that up to 40% of the carbon in the fine roots of one individual may be derived from photosynthetic products of a neighbor. Carbon transfer of this kind, mediated by plant-associated fungi, or mycorrhizae, in the soil, has been reported on a smaller scale in seedlings, but not before in trees. "
       Science, this issue p. 342; see also p. 290

Alpine Stream, MRobb

 Many gardeners, particularly gardeners of rare plants, have noted that the plants do better in groups, and outdoors in open soil if conditions allow. We know some of those reasons. What I call the Fungi-Net, which is basically a communications system built with soil fungi, allows plants to share data. Also the Formi-Net, which allows plants to communicate via their ant symbionts, helps some plants like Tillies to reach out to their world. Now we've found that the Fungi-Net does much more than facilitate communication- it allows plants to share their resources.

Railroad Vine, MRobb

 
Ethically speaking, should we be growing our plants in groups, and ensuring fungi are growing well in their soil? What do you all think, gardeners? Any ethicist botanists wish to comment?

Lithops, MRobb

Weird Wednesday: Say Hello With a Funga-Phone!

Enough art for awhile, I'm back to science today. I've often wondered how plants communicate with each other. No vocal chords, no silicon chip capability, no opposable thumbs. Poor, silent creatures, right? Turns out, they do chat with each other, via Funga-Phone!

Oh, the gossip in this place! The awful din!

Scientists in both Scotland and China have been studying how plants use their symbiotic soil fungi as a communication system. When a plant is attacked by pests, like nasty aphids, it can activate certain genes that protect it, or secrete pheromones that make it attractive to wasps that eat aphids. But how can it warn its neighbors that it's under attack by sticky green hordes? Originally, it was thought that plants could only use pheromones of alarm, carried on the breeze. But that's not very reliable. What if the wind isn't blowing, or is blowing the wrong way? Plants turn on their Funga-Phones....

Soil fungi form networks among plants, and the plants can pass communication molecules through their symbiotic fungi. In other words, it's like a Phyto-Internet. This method has only recently been discovered, so who knows what all plants can discuss?

But what about Tillandsias? They have no soil. How do they dish the dirt when they got no dirt??

Not much to talk about, again....

I suspect that in the wild, Tillies might utilize the fungi that grow on their host trees. Or maybe pass messages through their symbiotic ant networks. Or perhaps they have a different way to communicate entirely. It's definitely a possible avenue of research. Does anyone know how the TillyNet works??