A quiet grassland can feel still, but it is never silent. Every leaf, flower, and root releases tiny scent molecules that drift through the air.

Pamela Medina van Berkum collects volatile organic compounds from communities and individual plants in the field at the Jena Experiment field site (https://the-jena-experiment.de/). In her experiments ...

In an interdisciplinary study, researchers discovered that symbiotic bacteria communicate with legume plants through specific molecules and that this communication influences which bacteria grow near ...

Imagine that plants could tell us exactly when they're stressed, infected, or being eaten by insects, by lighting up. A new ...

Plants communicate through volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that help them respond to herbivorous pest attacks. This review explored the mechanisms behind these plant communications and their ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Volatile compounds drifting on the breeze. Electrical ...

New research has found when plant leaves physically touch each other, they seem to form a biological signalling network to warn each other about the upcoming stress. This can boost their resilience to ...

Plants exchange adaptive information, helping them to adjust to environmental challenges. Salt stress in plants, caused by soil salinity, often results in water loss. Plants often cope with this ...