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#Redirect [[Plant intelligence]]
{{Merge from|Plant neurobiology|discuss=Talk:Plant neurobiology#New page title?|date=September 2012}}
[[File:Grapevines intelligent growth 1.jpg|thumb|225px|Vine tendril. Note how the plant reaches for and purposely wraps around the galvanised wire provided for the purpose. This is a very tough twig and appears to have no other purpose than support for the plant. Nothing else grows from it. It must reach out softly, then wrap around and then dry and toughen. See more at [[thigmotropism]].]]
In [[botany]], '''plant intelligence''' is the ability of [[plant]]s to sense the environment and adjust their [[plant morphology|morphology]], [[plant physiology|physiology]] and [[phenotypic plasticity|phenotype]] accordingly.<ref>{{cite doi|10.1016/j.tplants.2005.07.005}}</ref>


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[[Intelligence]] is an [[umbrella term]] describing abilities such as the capacities for [[abstraction|abstract thought]], [[understanding]], [[communication]], [[reason]]ing, [[learning]], learning from past experiences, [[plan]]ning, and [[problem solving]]. Studies indicate plants are capable of [[problem solving]] and [[communication]].
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==Problem solving==
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Plants adapt their behaviour in a variety of ways:
* Active foraging for light and nutrients. They do this by changing their architecture{{vague|date=June 2012}}, physiology and phenotype.<ref name="dekroon95">De Kroon, H. and Hutchings, M.J. (1995) [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2261158 Morphological plasticity in clonal plants: the foraging concept reconsidered]. J. Ecol. 83, 143–152</ref><ref>{{cite doi|10.1023/A:1019640813676}}</ref><ref>{{cite doi|10.1016/S0065-2504(08)60215-9}}</ref>
* Leaves and branches are positioned and oriented in response to light source.<ref name="dekroon95"/><ref>{{cite doi|10.1126/science.199.4331.888}}</ref>
* Ability to detect soil volume and adapt growth accordingly independently of [[plant nutrition|nutrient]] availability.<ref>{{cite doi|10.2307/1938905}}</ref><ref>{{cite jstor|2389968}}</ref><ref>{{cite doi|10.1016/S0065-2504(08)60032-X}}</ref>
* [[Inducible plant defenses against herbivory|Adaptively defend against herbivores]].

==Mechanisms==
{{Main|Signal transduction|Plant neurobiology|Plant hormone|}}
In plants, the mechanism responsible for adaptation is [[signal transduction]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Scheel |first1=Dierk |last2=Wasternack |first2=C. |title=Plant signal transduction |year=2002 |publisher= Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-963879-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite doi|10.1034/j.1399-3054.2001.1120202.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite pmid|12194182}}</ref><ref>{{cite pmid|10200239}}</ref> Plants do not have a brain or [[neuronal network]], but reactions within signalling pathways may provide a biochemical basis for learning and memory.<ref>{{cite pmid|9888852}}</ref> Controversially, the brain is used as a metaphor in plant intelligence to provide an integrated view of signalling,<ref>{{cite doi|10.1016/j.tplants.2006.06.009}}</ref> (see [[plant neurobiology]]).

Plant cells can be electrically excitable and can display rapid electrical responses ([[action potential]]s) to environmental stimuli. These action potentials can influence processes such as [[actin]]-based cytoplasmic streaming, [[rapid plant movement|plant organ movements]], wound responses, respiration, [[photosynthesis]] and flowering.<ref>Wagner E, Lehner L, Normann J, Veit J, Albrechtova J (2006). Hydroelectrochemical integration of the higher plant—basis for electrogenic flower induction. pp 369–389 In: Balusˇka F, Mancuso S, Volkmann D (eds) Communication in plants: neuronal aspects of plant life. Springer, Berlin.</ref><ref>Fromm J, Lautner S. (2007). Electrical signals and their physiological significance in plants. Plant Cell Environ. 30(3):249-57. {{DOI|10.1111/j.1365-3040.2006.01614.x}} PMID 17263772</ref><ref>{{cite pmid|19129416}}</ref><ref>{{cite jstor|4353850}}</ref>

==Plant perception==
{{Main|Plant perception (physiology)}}
Plants have many [[inducible plant defenses against herbivory|strategies to fight off pests]]. For example, they can produce different toxins ([[phytoalexin]]s) against invaders or they can induce rapid [[cell death]] in invading cells to hinder the pests from spreading out. These strategies depend on quick and reliable recognition-systems.

===Light===
{{Main|Photomorphogenesis|photoperiodism}}
Plants also can detect harmful ultraviolet B-rays and then start producing pigments which filter out these rays.<ref>Åke Strid and Robert J. Porra. [http://pcp.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/33/7/1015 Alterations in Pigment Content in Leaves of Pisum sativum After Exposure to Supplementary UV-B]. Plant and Cell Physiology, 1992, Vol. 33, No. 7 1015-1023</ref>

===Contact stimuli===
{{Main|Thigmotropism|Thigmomorphogenesis}}
The mimosa plant (''[[Mimosa pudica]]'') makes its thin leaves point down at the slightest touch and [[carnivorous plant]]s such as the [[Venus flytrap]] snap shut by the touch of insects. {{citation needed|date=November 2011}}

[[Jasmonate]] levels also increase rapidly in response to mechanical perturbations such as tendril coiling.<ref>{{cite doi|10.1007/BF00201050}}</ref>

==Plant adaptation vs plant intelligence==
It has been argued that although plants are capable of adaptation, it should not be called intelligence. ''"A bacterium can monitor its environment and instigate developmental processes appropriate to the prevailing circumstances, but is that intelligence? Such simple adaptation behaviour might be bacterial intelligence but is clearly not animal intelligence."''<ref name="firn2004">{{cite pmid|15023701}}</ref>
However, plant intelligence fits with the definition of intelligence proposed by [[David Stenhouse]] in a book he wrote about evolution where he described it as "adaptively variable behaviour during the lifetime of the individual".<ref>http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17523535.700-not-just-a-pretty-face.html</ref>

It is also argued that a plant cannot have goals because operational control of the plant's organs is devolved.<ref name="firn2004"/>

==History==
[[Charles Darwin]] studied the movement of plants and in 1880 published a book [[The Power of Movement in Plants]]. In the book he concludes:
<blockquote>
It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the tip of the [[radicle]] thus endowed [..] acts like the brain of one of the lower animals; the brain being situated within the anterior end of the body, receiving impressions from the sense-organs, and directing the several movements.
</blockquote>

==See also==
*[[Plant perception (paranormal)]]
*[[Plant perception (physiology)]]
*[[Plant rights]]
* ''[[The Secret Life of Plants]]''

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plant Intelligence}}
[[Category:Intelligence]]
[[Category:Botany|Intelligence]]
[[Category:Plant physiology]]
[[Category:Paranormal terminology]]

Latest revision as of 18:27, 10 December 2024

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