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EARTH'S ROOTS HAVE FEELINGS TOO
By: Gregory Athington
Plant roots have feelings and a sense of touch. I’ve read that British researchers have established this as a fact having found that root hairs explore the soil in much the same way as a person would do in the dark. The researchers found that roots are covered with a fuzzy coat of hairs that act as sensitive "fingers". When the roots encounter an obstacle such as a stone, they feel their way around until an opening is discovered through which growing can continue. The study futher identified a growth control mechanism that enables hairs to find their way and to elongate when their path is clear.
The mechanism uses a protein at the tip of the root hairs to stimulate the uptake of calcium from the soil. Calcium then stimulates more activity by the protein. When an obstacle blocks the hair's path, the cycle is broken and growth starts in another direction. In nutrient-poor soils found in parts of sub-Saharan Africa plants have adapted by producing extra root hairs. Understanding the processes involved could assist the development of crops able to grow in inhospitable environments.
The relevance of such information as roots having feelings proves that the Earth too has feelings and there will be a price to pay for all the human abuses and all the damage that emissions have done over the past three centuries. We are a selfish species. For certain there will be consequences of our actions that can be seen in global warming and climate change.
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The mechanism uses a protein at the tip of the root hairs to stimulate the uptake of calcium from the soil. Calcium then stimulates more activity by the protein. When an obstacle blocks the hair's path, the cycle is broken and growth starts in another direction. In nutrient-poor soils found in parts of sub-Saharan Africa plants have adapted by producing extra root hairs. Understanding the processes involved could assist the development of crops able to grow in inhospitable environments.
The relevance of such information as roots having feelings proves that the Earth too has feelings and there will be a price to pay for all the human abuses and all the damage that emissions have done over the past three centuries. We are a selfish species. For certain there will be consequences of our actions that can be seen in global warming and climate change.
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02 March 2008
2 comments
2 comments so far
Mary Andrews
2008-04-10 03:39:28Professor Nigel Stork is spot on when statements about "100 extinctions a day" have become accepted, cited by organisations such as the United Nations and repeated in the popular media. But there is not evidence of this happening. We don't have enough information to talk about hundreds of species dying out. When we compare birds and mammals to snails, molluscs and insects, there is a seven times greater chance of a species becoming rare and endangered for birds and mammals than for these invertebrates. The threats are different. For birds and mammals, the threats are hunting and loss of habitat, for invertebrates and other insects it may be another suite of threats. The environmental scientists say we do not know the degree to which the "biased data" affects our potential to manage the changing environmental landscape. There should be a focus on dealing with the processes and things that threaten invertebrates. The consequences of our inattention could be catastrophic as extinctions of "keystone" vertebrate species could cause major changes to ecosystems by altering key processes such as the dispersal and pollination of flora.
Trevor Sykes
2008-03-02 10:50:15Yes roots have feelings and so too do trees and that’s why it’s interesting that a group of historic tree buffs are planning to clone old-growth Californian redwoods. The Champion Tree Project, have already successfully cloned trees, including one originally planted by George Washington at Mount Vernon. The latest plans are to help restore forests that have been so logged that only 5% of coastal old-growth forest remains. The group will grow the clones until they reach two to three feet in height, at which point they will introduce them back along the Californian coastal region, where once redwood forests were dominant. They plan to ensure a genetic diversity in their areas by planting 80% new growth seedlings and 20% clones. While the group has managed individual clones in the past, the redwood project represents their first attempt to restore an entire forest. For the trees that can live up to 2,200 years these ancient samples will help with restoring the forests to their original condition.