Shh, the plants are whispering...

In people’s general impression, plants always seem to be still and silent, as if they are indifferent to everything around them. Is this really the case?

If plants really passively accept changes in the environment, how can they survive in such a complex ecosystem to this day?

Can plants really communicate with other organisms?

Tang Jianjun, chief expert of the National Ecological Civilization Science Communication Team, is here to reveal the secrets of plant communication to us!

In fact, if plants were only passive in responding to environmental changes, they would not have survived to this day. From a botanist’s perspective, the wisdom displayed by plants even surpasses that of organisms that can move flexibly, including humans.

Plants are extremely adaptable and intelligent . To survive in complex ecosystems, plants must manage relationships with other organisms, including other plants, animals, microorganisms, and changing environmental conditions. Therefore, in order to survive, plants must respond to changes in their environment .

However, plants respond in a very different way than other organisms. Animals usually use behavior to move toward preferred environments or avoid unfavorable ones; plants, however, cannot move, so their main way of responding to the external environment is through chemical signals .

Plants are the largest "chemical factories" in the world . According to current statistics, plants can produce more than 100,000 compounds. These compounds play many roles, such as attracting beneficial organisms, repelling harmful organisms, improving the soil environment, or making friendly or hostile microorganisms function or stop functioning.

Therefore, plants can and must interact with their surroundings, including their biological neighbors, in a variety of ways . We call the phenomenon of plants establishing connections with other organisms through chemical reactions "heteropathic interaction" . In other words, the interaction between plants and their environment is mainly achieved through chemical signals.

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