How a plant interacts with itself

From Phys.org:

Researchers have created a model that considers how different stages of a plant's life cycle interact with each other. Whereas previous studies have examined the seed, vegetative, and reproductive phases individually, scientists in a working group funded by the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) sought to understand the relationship between the stages in reaction to environmental and genetic factors.

"Most research is focused on understanding each of those processes independently," says lead author and Duke University graduate scholar Liana Burghardt. "We're creating a framework to understand how they relate to each other."

The findings suggest that when environmental factors alter the timing of one stage of a plant's life cycle, the duration of subsequent stages also adjusts. Climate change has affected growing season lengths worldwide, and a better understanding of the factors that influence life stages as a whole could prove especially insightful. The paper will appear in the February issue of The American Naturalist and is now available online.

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