MALE PROFESSOR: OK, so here’s one example of this. Researchers have been studying a particular plant, uh, that lives in the desert. It’s called a creosote plant. Now when you look at creosote plants, you notice something unusual about them right away—you see that they’re spaced far away from other plants. And, as it turns out, there’s a reason for that.
Um, like other plants, a creosote plant has a root system—underneath the ground—that provides the plant with access to the water the plant needs to survive. Uh, and the creosote plant has a special way of protecting the space around its roots—more specifically, of protecting the water in the space around its roots. What it does is, whenever the roots of other plants start growing too close, the roots of the creosote release a chemical. And when the roots of the other plants come into contact with this chemical, they stop growing toward the creosote roots and start growing in some other direction, away from the creosote plant. So in a way, the creosote roots, with this chemical they release, are telling the roots of the other plants, “This is my space and my water.” And the other plants get the message and move away. So this way the roots of the creosote plant always have plenty of space around them. And in a dry desert climate, that’s a big advantage.
Using the example of the creosote plant from the lecture, explain how root communication helps desert plants to survive.
Root communication refers to the phenomenon that the roots of one plant communicate with the roots of another plant for controlling the distance between them.
In the example, creosote plants in the desert are found to far away from other species of plants. Because when the roots of other plants come near, its roots would release a chemical into the soil and the other plants would know that the space is protected. So the roots of other plants grow in other directions, staying away from creosote roots and leaving enough space and water in the protected area.
