A small but growing number of scientists have introduced the world to a new field in recent years: the neurobiology of plants. Their research challenges the traditional boundaries between the plant and animal kingdoms. They say that plants are able to perceive their environment and react to it. Electrical and chemical signaling appear to play important roles, resembling signal processing in animals. So are plants able to think and feel?
An example is the umbrella thorn acacia in the African Limpopo savannah. During a period of drought, it was the only food source for many herbivores and was severely threatened by overgrazing. Through chemical messengers the plants agreed among themselves to increase the tannin content in their leaves. As a result, grazing antelopes were poisoned and eliminated as predators. Interrelationships like these form a vast field of research for scientists within the fascinating world of plants. |