Plants: adaptation, resilience and communication.

Plants: adaptation, resilience and communication.

By: Battistina Carzedda, Maria Antonietta Manca, Maria Cristina Mereu, Loredana Onidi, Maria Grazia Rachele, Michela Stefani (ANISN), students of the E. d'Arborea high school of Cagliari, students of the Michelangelo high school of Cagliari, students of the Motzo high school of Quartu S. Elena

Plants are dynamic organisms, highly sensitive and resistant to all external inputs; over the course of evolution they have therefore implemented increasingly refined adaptive strategies in response to environmental stress. They had to decide how and where to use the limited energy resources they have for their survival. They are in fact pioneer organisms that were the first to manage to enter the mainland. They were thus able to develop notable adaptation skills, considering their impossibility of being able to move.
Recent studies, still the subject of lively debate today, have shown that plants are able to communicate with each other and with animals, in both physical and chemical ways. They communicate with animals, particularly insects, attracting them with colorful flowers or fleshy fruits, and with plants they use volatile compounds (VOCs) that can trigger specific defense responses in nearby plants. Roots play an important role in communication via (VOCs) and it is possible to create VOC detectors for specific substances in the laboratory. Furthermore, plants recognize their “relatives”, others behave as allelopathic in order to claim the territory.
To conclude, it has been demonstrated that plants have extraordinary communicative power and memory.

November 9, 2023

9am - 1pm | 

November 10, 2023

9am - 1pm |  3.00pm - 7.00pm

November 11, 2023

9am - 1pm |  3.00pm - 7.00pm

November 12, 2023

9am - 1pm |  3.00pm - 7.00pm

November 13, 2023

9am - 1pm |  3.00pm - 7.00pm

November 14, 2023

9am - 1pm |  3.00pm - 7.00pm

Event location:
EXMA Hall of Vaults
Via San Lucifero, 71 Cagliari

Access to the Cagliari FestivalScienza activities is free for everyone. Reservations are required only for schools and organized groups.