The Unseen Arms Race: Plants & Insects

There’s a war going on. One in our own backyards, right under our noses, but goes unnoticed.

It is the ongoing battle of insect versus plant.

Plants have a serious disadvantage when it comes to protecting themselves. They can’t move. They root wherever nature, or we, put them. If things change in the environment and conditions become less than favorable, they’re stuck. The same goes for predators, all the insects and animals looking to make a meal out of them. So how do you defend yourself when you’re immobile?

 

You develop spines, spikes or thorns, unpalatable hairs on leaves, bitter-tasting toxins and other chemical defenses, among others, anything to make you a less desirable target. The goal? To survive and reproduce.

Yet this isn’t the end. Just by developing ways of deterring predators it doesn’t mean you’re safe because the insects and animals attacking you are doing their own adapting, finding ways around them.

It’s this battle that leads to changes in both plant and animal species until they balance each other out, when one can’t outcompete the other.

It also leads to specialization, which is sometimes very beneficial to the plants. This is especially true with our pollinating insects. Flowering plants and insects have co-evolved, or adapted through time together, to best suit each other. The plants have created the best ways to lure in particular insects. These insects in return, have found the best ways to collect the plant’s pollen and nectar. The result is an ecological win-win, the plants get pollinated, the insects get food for themselves and their larvae. Both species benefit and thrive. There are good examples of this beneficial co-existence in this blog post by the Washington Native Plant Society.

So the next time you take a stroll through a park or a garden, take a closer look. There’s a lot going on all around you, all the time.

Article by Jennifer Hunnell, Michigan Arbor Day Alliance

This Tree Comes With a Warning Label

To make your Thursday a bit more interesting, here is an interesting fact you probably weren’t even aware of.  I know I wasn’t!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————-

When it comes to defence, the animal kingdom has come up with a wide assortment of horns, spikes, spines, claws, enhanced super senses, and camouflage and mimicry abilities that make the animal nearly invisible.  And that’s only naming a few.  Not to mention, that if all else fails, that animal has the option of running away.  That is the advantage of being mobile.

But what if you are a plant?

Plants don’t have the luxury of being able to move around after they’re established.  They’re pretty much grounded where they are.  So how does something that can’t get away from an attack defend itself?  Chemically of course.  The plant world has its own sets of biochemical weapons at its disposal.  Being eaten by an unwelcome insect?  Attract another that will prey on the pest.  Become infected by a disease?  Well, while it may be too late for you, you can warn your fellow plants by sending chemical signals that will aid them in building up their defences.  And animal predation problems?  Build up toxins and other nasty tasting compounds in your vulnerable leaves and twigs that will make you unappetizing and even make the ingester sick.

One plant has taken these chemical weapons to the extreme, earning it the distinction of being the Guinness World Record holder for “The Most Dangerous Tree.”  This tree’s toxic defences are strong enough that even humans are at serious risk; to the point where countries where this species is found have taken to giving them warning labels.

The tree is the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico native the manchineel.

It looks like a beautiful flowering apple tree, but don’t be fooled.  The sap contains a variety of strong toxins that can cause blisters when in contact with the skin.  Even standing beneath it during a rain can cause a reaction.  If you mistakenly burn the wood, the smoke can cause blindness.  And if that weren’t enough, if the sweet, apple-like fruit is eaten it can cause the mouth and esophagus to blister, gastrointestinal bleeding, nausea, vomiting, seizures, and can potentially even be fatal.  Historical accounts say that after encountering this plant, Christopher Columbus dubbed it the “death apple.”

That’s a whole lot of damage from one plant.  While an extreme example, it can serve as a cautionary tale:  Always beware of eating unfamiliar plants!