[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Benefits for nurse and facilitated plants emerge when interactions are considered along the entire life-span

## Details

**Authors** Montesinos-Navarro

**Year** 2019

**Publisher** Perspectives in plant ecology, evolution and systematics

**Discipline** Biology

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2019.125483) 
10.1016/j.ppees.2019.125483

## In authors' words

### What they set out to do (purpose)

Testing the benefit to adult plants in helping out juvenile plants.

### What they found (results)

Adult plants in a harsh environment aided the juvenile plants, and everyone was better off because of it. The mature plant in a hot desert environment that shelters a seedling from the elements was shown to, over time, has more flowers than a plant of the same size who isn’t helping out others.

## Commentary

### In short

Perspective-taking is done by plants, and it has (in some cases) even evolved to be beneficial to those that participate in helping others.

### In more detail

Including organisms you might not initially expect to be capable of cognition. Plants have been shown to take Perspective in two pieces of research. Daniel Chamovitz, in his popular book What A Plant Knows, explains that plants are incredibly complex sensory organisms. In particular, plants can signal danger to their neighbors. If a Maple tree is attacked by insects, it expels a chemical which signals to the surrounding Maple trees to produce insect defense chemicals. It may be too late for this tree, but it puts energy into protecting the nearby members of its species. Another example Chamovitz gives is in a time of drought. Some plants can communicate via their root systems, and if one of those plants is experiencing a significant decrease in water availability, it signals this to the other plants which leads them to prepare for a lack of water in the future. This Perspective-taking behavior doesn’t end there. Montesinos-Navarro et al researched how plants who take care of one another benefit long term from their “kindness.” Their research showed that adult plants in a harsh environment aided the juvenile plants, and everyone was better off because of it. The mature plant in a hot desert environment that shelters a seedling from the elements was shown to, over time, has more flowers than a plant of the same size who isn’t helping out others. Both of these findings show that Perspective-taking is done by plants, and it has (in some cases) even evolved to be beneficial to those that participate in helping others.

**Patterns it shows** P

**How to cite this** Montesinos-Navarro (2019). Benefits for nurse and facilitated plants emerge when interactions are considered along the entire life-span. Perspectives in plant ecology, evolution and systematics.