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Plants
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Plant Behavioral Ecology
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Plant Behavioral Ecology

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 2768

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Pavol Prokop

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Environmental Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
2. Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovakia
Interests: behavioral ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plant behavioral ecology is a rapidly emerging field focused on our understanding of the adaptive behaviors and responses exhibited by plants in their interactions with other organisms and their environment. This fascinating field has been somewhat underestimated by researchers, even though Darwin's pioneering experiments on plant behavior date back more than 100 years. We now know that plants can communicate with each other both through aboveground and underground organs, display intelligence, recognize individuals of their own species, actively signal resources, and even deceive pollinators. They also exhibit sensitivity to human disturbance and urbanization and compete or cooperate with other plants for resources. These discoveries challenge the perception of plants as passive organisms.

Considering plants as models for studying behavior is highly advantageous because, unlike animals, plants are free from anthropomorphism, allowing for a more objective generalization of results. This Special Issue aims to summarize recent progress in plant behavior, encompassing all possible behavioral domains. We are particularly interested in works that explore the evolutionary causes of plant adaptive responses based on laboratory and/or field data, although reviews and innovative ideas are also welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Pavol Prokop
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plant movement
  • plant behavior
  • flower–pollinator interaction
  • adaptive behavior
  • plant–herbivore interactions

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4332 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Leaf Damage Intensity on Ant–Plant Protection Mutualism and Plant Fitness
by Isabela Cristina de Oliveira Pimenta, Eduardo Soares Calixto and Kleber Del-Claro
Plants 2025, 14(6), 837; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14060837 - 7 Mar 2025
Viewed by 70
Abstract
Herbivores can negatively impact plant reproduction by altering floral traits, pollination, and fruit production. To counteract this, plants developed defense mechanisms, such as the biotic defense resulting from associations with ants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether leaf herbivory at [...] Read more.
Herbivores can negatively impact plant reproduction by altering floral traits, pollination, and fruit production. To counteract this, plants developed defense mechanisms, such as the biotic defense resulting from associations with ants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether leaf herbivory at different intensities influences reproductive success and extrafloral nectar secretion patterns in a savanna plant, Banisteriopsis malifolia (Malpighiaceae). Plants were subjected to simulated leaf herbivory and divided into three groups: Control (damage < 5%), T15 (15% leaf area removed), and T50 (50% leaf area removed). Assessments continued until fruiting. The findings indicate an increase in extrafloral nectar sugar concentration after simulated herbivory. Increasing foliar damage significantly delayed the time to bloom, decreased the number of inflorescences per plant, and reduced the size of buds and flowers. Foliar damage significantly decreased fruit size. Furthermore, ant foraging was influenced by herbivory, with a predominance of aggressive ants on plants with high levels of damage. Our study shows that varying levels of leaf damage affect extrafloral nectar secretion, ant foraging behavior, and plant reproductive structures. These findings highlight how insect herbivores and the level of damage they cause influence plant fitness and consequently community structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Behavioral Ecology)
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13 pages, 1810 KiB  
Article
Sequential Defense Strategies: From Ant Recruitment to Leaf Toughness
by Danilo F. B. dos Santos, Eduardo S. Calixto, Helena M. Torezan-Silingardi and Kleber Del-Claro
Plants 2025, 14(1), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14010049 - 27 Dec 2024
Viewed by 630
Abstract
Plants express many types of defenses in response to herbivory damage. These defenses can be displayed as a sequence or they can overlap, increasing efficiency in protection. However, leaf defense shifts during leaf development, including extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), are neglected in natural tropical [...] Read more.
Plants express many types of defenses in response to herbivory damage. These defenses can be displayed as a sequence or they can overlap, increasing efficiency in protection. However, leaf defense shifts during leaf development, including extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), are neglected in natural tropical systems. To address this gap, our study evaluates the shifts in defense strategies of Eriotheca gracilipes, focusing on extrafloral nectaries and leaf toughness across leaf development stages. We also simulate herbivory by cutting the leaves to address the role of visiting ants against herbivores. We observed that E. gracilipes exhibits a defense turnover, shifting from indirect defenses (e.g., EFNs) in young leaves to physical defenses in adult leaves. Simulated herbivory led to heightened ant visitation, which correlated with decreased herbivory rates, indicating that ant recruitment acts as an effective deterrent. We observed a peak of EFN activity in young leaves, increased foliar toughness in adult leaves, and reduced herbivory on ant-patrolled young leaves. Additionally, E. gracilipes demonstrated tolerance to up to 10% foliar loss with no significant impact on leaf asymmetry, although 50% foliar loss increased asymmetry in newly flushed leaves. These results highlight E. gracilipes’ adaptive flexibility by attracting protective ants when vulnerable and enhancing structural defenses as leaves develops, E. gracilipes minimizes herbivory impact. This study provides valuable insight into the adaptive roles of EFNs and tolerance in E. gracilipes, contributing to a broader understanding of plant defense strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Behavioral Ecology)
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16 pages, 2574 KiB  
Article
Ascent and Attachment in Pea Plants: A Matter of Iteration
by Silvia Guerra, Giovanni Bruno, Andrea Spoto, Anna Panzeri, Qiuran Wang, Bianca Bonato, Valentina Simonetti and Umberto Castiello
Plants 2024, 13(10), 1389; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13101389 - 16 May 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1509
Abstract
Pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) can perceive the presence of potential supports in the environment and flexibly adapt their behavior to clasp them. How pea plants control and perfect this behavior during growth remains unexplored. Here, we attempt to fill this gap [...] Read more.
Pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) can perceive the presence of potential supports in the environment and flexibly adapt their behavior to clasp them. How pea plants control and perfect this behavior during growth remains unexplored. Here, we attempt to fill this gap by studying the movement of the apex and the tendrils at different leaves using three-dimensional (3D) kinematical analysis. We hypothesized that plants accumulate information and resources through the circumnutation movements of each leaf. Information generates the kinematical coordinates for the final launch towards the potential support. Results suggest that developing a functional approach to grasp movement may involve an interactive trial and error process based on continuous cross-talk across leaves. This internal communication provides evidence that plants adopt plastic responses in a way that optimally corresponds to support search scenarios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Behavioral Ecology)
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