GARCIA, JENNY D.

12- RIEMANN
THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF PLANTS
(Reaction Paper)
Plants do not have eyes, ears, brain, and other organ systems unlike animals but how do they survive.
Plants can grow as animals can grow, plants can eat as animals can eat, plants can move as animals can move
but do plants behave as animals behave? Behavior pertains to the response of an organism to its environment.
Animals do have organs to behave in a certain way in order to find its food, to interact in social groups, to
provide its needs and to survive but plants do not have the same structure like animals but they are able to do
what animals can do. And from the video segment, ecologists James Cahill from the University of Alberta clearly
explained the secret language of plants.
According to the video, plants and animals have similar behaviors. First is the feeding behavior, just like
animals hunting for food, plants have this feeding behavior also, all plants on Earth hunt for food including the
light and nutrients they need to photosynthesize. Another example based on the video is the Venus Flytrap, like
animals catching its prey this plant catches and traps its prey which is insects. Second behavior is foraging; it is
the ability to search for food resources. Based on the observation of Dr. James Cahill and his student, plant roots
forage and once they found a nutrient patch it suddenly grows slower, similar to grizzly bears they move slower
or they do not go in the far distance once they found a berry’s patch. Moving legs of animals and growing plant
roots may be different in structure but the foraging behavior is still the same. Similar with other parasitic animals
there are also parasitic plants, one example is the Daughter Vine, this vine is unable to produce its own food
that is why it depends entirely on its host plant and parasitism is common on animals and it is also happening
on plant’s world. Another common behavior of animals that plants had is having a self-defense, example of this
is the Nicotiana Glauca, a wild tobacco plant, according to the study of Ian Baldwin this plant releases nicotine
whenever herbivore attack this toxin poisons insects except for the caterpillar. So, the wild tobacco makes
another self-defense it releases SOS, a chemical message that is received by a bug, the predator of the
caterpillar. Lastly, animals have a social life or interaction or what we called the symbiotic relationship, plants
also have this, some animal competes and kills other animal and plants can kill other plants too just like the
Spotted Knapweeds, it is a weed which roots releases a chemical that can kill native grasses. Another social
interaction of animal is a keen recognition, plants are also able to know and recognize its sibling. Sea Rocket is
one example of a plant that has a keen recognition, based on the study of Dr. Susan Dudley and her research
partner the roots of stranger sea rockets grow more roots to compete for food while sibling sea rocket control
its root growth to share food resources and it is what we called altruistic behavior, it is helping other organisms
while benefiting itself another example of this is the relationship between trees and fungi, trees roots provide
the fungi roots with carbon-based sugar and as an exchange the fungi release a nutrients for the trees. Plants
are able to survive just like how animals survive as stated, thus, it proves that some plants behave like animals.
The mechanism and structure of plants and animals are may be different but their behavior is still the same.
Therefore, plants behavior like foraging, self-defense, keen recognition, and social interaction are the
secret language or way of plants to survive and to exist even though it does not have organs like what animals
have.

REFERENCE: The Secret Language of Plants: National Geographic Documentary. (2016, October). Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iVpUpn6I6U