Saturday, 1 February 2025

'Gossiping neighbors': Plants didn't evolve to be kind to each other, study finds


Image courtesy of Loreto Oyarte Galvez

Joel Kontinen

Plants are not friendly to each other, a new study claims.

Rather than helping each other out when they're attacked, plants may have to eavesdrop on each other to know when to launch their own defences.”

A new study says that” rather than warning each other of impending doom, plants may be better off hiding signs of distress from each other, or even lying about danger that isn't there.

This might have to do with evolution, in which the species or individuals who has the best genes always wins. It may relate to the plants defence mechanism so that it will not say which is the greatest danger, so that herbivores or insects will find the plant unpalatable.

Source:

Jess Thomson 2025 'Gossiping neighbors': Plants didn't evolve to be kind to each other, study finds | Live Science 31 January