Synopses & Reviews
The news that a flowering weedandmdash;mousear cress (
Arabidopsis thaliana)andmdash;can sense the particular chewing noise of its most common caterpillar predator and adjust its chemical defenses in response led to headlines announcing the discovery of the first andldquo;hearingandrdquo; plant. As plants lack central nervous systems (and, indeed, ears), the mechanisms behind this andldquo;hearingandrdquo; are unquestionably very different from those of our own acoustic sense, but the misleading headlines point to an overlooked truth: plants do in fact perceive environmental cues and respond rapidly to them by changing their chemical, morphological, and behavioral traits.
In Plant Sensing and Communication, Richard Karban provides the first comprehensive overview of what is known about how plants perceive their environments, communicate those perceptions, and learn. Facing many of the same challenges as animals, plants have developed many similar capabilities: they sense light, chemicals, mechanical stimulation, temperature, electricity, and sound. Moreover, prior experiences have lasting impacts on sensitivity and response to cues; plants, in essence, have memory. Nor are their senses limited to the processes of an individual plant: plants eavesdrop on the cues and behaviors of neighbors andandmdash;for example, through flowers and fruitsandmdash;exchange information with other types of organisms. Far from inanimate organisms limited by their stationary existence, plants, this book makes unquestionably clear, are in constant and lively discourse.
Review
andldquo;Karban seeks to argue that plants behaveandmdash;that they sense their environment, detect and communicate with an array of different organisms, and respond to their sense of the environment and communication. He is very successful in this, demonstrating that plant sensing and communication is a vibrant area of current research with still plenty more to discover. Very unusual, with broad appeal, so timely and well written, this book will be essential reading for specialists and a landmark in the field. Plant Sensing and Communication is a fantastic book.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Effective because it sweeps across so many aspects of plant biology, and ecology and evolutionary biology more generally, Plant Sensing and Communication is also very well written, easy to digest, and feels like an unrushed synthesis. Certain signature aspects of Karbanandrsquo;s clarity shine through in this book. For example, the dichotomous keys to, and categorization of, certain types of interactions are a hallmark of Karbanandrsquo;s ability to simplify and clarify, and these will be useful to readers for decades (even if they disagree). This book will be read widely and have a lasting impact.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Richard Karban gives an introduction to a secret world: the multiple ways via which plants obtain information on their environment. Plants identify microbes and animals with which they are in contact, distinguish friends from foes, perceive the presence and degree of attack of their plant neighbors. They successfully integrate all this information and respond with adequate behaviors to enhance their chances of survival end reproduction. Reports on talking trees and intelligent plant behavior make it regularly into the public press, but they frequently leave the impression that botanists humanize their study objects, perhaps to make them more attractive for the public. In Plant Sensing and Communication, Karban carefully avoids this pitfall and provides us with detailed descriptions of all the physiological mechanisms that enable plants to gain information on their environment, make optimal use of the resources available, and actively manipulate their biotic environment for their own benefits.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Karban . . . largely avoids political melodrama, instead providing clear working definitions of some of the contentious vocabulary: communication, eavesdropping, learning and memory. His summaries of plantsandrsquo; sensory abilitiesandmdash;such as the cues and signals that they use to adjust to the environmentandmdash;retain an evolutionary perspective. And he branches out into areas such as mate choice, for example detailing how plants selectively breed with specific fathers represented in a mixed pollen load.andrdquo;
About the Author
Richard Karban is professor of entomology and a member of the Center for Population Biology at the University of California, Davis. He is coauthor ofand#160;How to Do Ecology: A Concise Handbook.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
and#160;
Chapter 1. Plant Behavior and Communication
1.1 Plants and animals are different but also similar
1.2 Working definitions
1.3 Plant sensing and communicationand#151;organization of this book
and#160;
Chapter 2. Plant Sensory Capabilities
2.1 Plants sense their environments
2.2 Plants sense light
2.3 Chemical sensing
2.4 Mechanical sensingand#151;touch
2.5 Plant sensing of temperature, electricity, and sound
and#160;
Chapter 3. Plant Learning and Memory
3.1 Do plants learn?
3.2 Learning, memory, and light
3.3 Learning, memory, and perception of chemicals, resources, pathogens, and herbivores
3.4 Learning, memory, and touch
3.5 Learning, memory, and cold
3.5 Transgenerational memory
and#160;
Chapter 4. Cues and Signals in Plant Communication
4.1 The nature of cues and signals
4.2 Plant competitionand#151;light and hormonal cues
4.3 Cues used in plant defense
4.4 Cues and signals emitted by plants that animals sense
and#160;
Chapter 5. Plant Responses to Cues about Resources
5.1 General characteristics of plant responses
5.2 Plants forage for resources
5.3 Integrating resource needs
and#160;
Chapter 6. Plant Responses to Herbivory
6.1 Induced responses as plant defenses
6.2 Volatile signals and communication between ramets and individuals
6.3 Indirect defenses against herbivores
6.4 Visual communication between plants and herbivores
and#160;
Chapter 7. Plant Communication and Reproduction
7.1 Pollination and communication
7.2 Seed dispersal and communication
and#160;
Chapter 8. Microbes and Plant Communication
8.1 Microbes are critical for plant success
8.2 Plants recognize pathogens
8.3 Infested plants attract the microbial enemies of their attackers
8.4 Plants communicate with mycorrhizal fungi
8.5 Plants communicate with N-fixing bacteria
and#160;
Chapter 9. Plant Sensing and Communication as Adaptations
9.1 Plant senses and emission of cuesand#151;adaptive traits?
9.2 Case studies of adaptations
and#160;
Chapter 10. Plant Sensing and Communication in Agriculture and Medicine
10.1 Manipulating the sensing and communication process
10.2 Manipulating resource acquisition and allocation
10.3 Manipulating tolerance to abiotic stress
10.4 Manipulating resistance to pathogens
10.5 Manipulating resistance to herbivores
10.6 Manipulating reproductive timing and effort
10.7 As a source of medicines
10.8 Plant sensing in the future of mankind
and#160;
References
Index