Prep notes for Sept 7, 2004: plant behavior
Concepts: behavior, phenology, tropism, nastic response,
competition, phytochrome, photoperiodism, turgor movements, circadian
rhythms, solar tracking, shade-avoidance response, red:far-red ratio, cost
& benefit.
Questions:
- What is behavior, and is plant behavior different from animal
behavior?
- What are some important behaviors?
- What are their mechanisms?
- What are some experiments which helped biologists figure out the
mechanisms?
- Can you think of some different experiments that might test the same
questions?
- What fitness benefits do they confer on the plant?
- what costs?
- How might costs and benefits be estimated?
- Under what circumstances should they be selected for?
- What experiment might tell you whether the shade-avoidance response
actually confers a fitness advantage? (Hint: look up Johanna Schmitt's
papers in BIOSIS.)
- Can you imagine any behaviors that just don't exist in plants?
- When should we expect a tropism vs a nastic response?
Last updated by Ted
Wong, 9/1/2004