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8th February 2012
Plants' hidden conversations

Scientists have discovered that plants may have a silent and secret language of their own! We know that animals communicate in lots of different ways from shrieks and shouts, hand gestures, smells and sprays but do plants really talk to each other?

Scientists at the University of Exeter have found that plants silently warn other plants of danger when they are being attacked. It has been known for some time that plants release toxins to defend themselves when they are being eaten by insects or herbivores like cows or rabbits. These toxins are released as an invisible gas which is very unpleasant to the attackers and puts them off their lunch. But recently, plant experiments and some very specialist filming equipment have discovered more about this defense mechanism - the gas acts as a chemical messenger to communicate with other plants.

To test the theory, scientists cut a plant with scissors to mimic an attack and placed it in a chamber with two unharmed plants of the same species. Specialist equipment allowed the scientists to see the biological activity of the plants - to begin with the cut plant is very active, releasing its invisible gas to protect itself. Surprisingly the researchers then found that the other plants picked up this message and also began to release gas to protect themselves. This wonderful discovery goes to show just how much we don't know about the planet and its organisms. This is why it is important to protect the earth and its creatures as there is still so much to discover!

We still have so much to learn about plants and these hidden conversations but scientists are starting to believe that there could be constant invisible chatter going on all around us. Perhaps you really can hear it on the grapevine, at least if you're a grape!

To help protect the environment today see our factsheet Environment - how can we help protect it?

For interesting information on animal communication see these -

What do Justin Bieber and humpback whales have in common?
Communication in Animals

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