WIKIMEDIA, HITROMILANESEGiven a choice between two possible outcomes (one risky, one not), most people take risks only when the stable option does not provide what they need. When the stable option is sufficient, on the other hand, most people tend to be risk-averse. Humans and other animals have long behaved this way, according to risk-sensitivity theory. And, as researchers from the University of Oxford and their colleagues reported in a study published today (June 30) in Current Biology, some plants apparently behave this way too.
Behavioral ecologist Alex Kacelnik of Oxford and colleagues recently observed risk assessment-like behavior in pea plants.
The team took pea plants and split their roots among two pots. Both pots contained the same average levels of nutrients, but while nutrients in one pot remained at a steady level, nutrients in the other pot varied over the course of the three-month experiment. After three months, the researchers weighed the roots in each of the pots. They found that when average nutrient levels were low, the peas grew more roots in the variable pot. On the other hand, when nutrient levels were high, the plants favored the steady pot.
In terms of risk-sensitivity theory, Kacelnik said, “they did exactly what was expected from them.” In fact, he ...
