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The natural defenses of dead plants -- which are designed to inhibit enzymes in the gut to prevent digestion -- would be toxic for any other animal. But a group of researchers from Imperial College London have discovered new molecules in the worm gut, named drilodefensins, that can counteract the toxins, breaking them down the way that dish liquid breaks apart grease.
"Without drilodefensins, fallen leaves would remain on the surface of the ground for a very long time, building up to a thick layer," said Jake Bundy, an author of the study and a professor at Imperial College, in a statement. "Our countryside would be unrecognizable, and the whole system of carbon cycling would be disrupted."
The humble worm is amazing. It can turn lawn waste and food scraps into rich black soil in a matter of weeks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @06:18AM
Plants cannot see or plan ahead of time and cannot see the consequences of their actions down the line, the way humans do.
After a leaf falls, the tree cannot know what happens to it, because it is now disconnected from mothership. It only knows what is currently happening and how its actions change what is happening to the plant (while interacting with something else, like an animal).
To stop other plants from growing in the vicinity would require careful planning, where the plant would fill its leaves with poison and then drop them, hoping that the tree growing near would get killed by it, or not grow at all.
That said, I cannot totally explain how the plant gets its seeds delivered to faraway places (using carriers such as animals and wind), as that would require careful planning. But one explanation is that the tree noticed what happens when seeds fall right next to it and start growing there, competing for resources. The trees that continued to let seeds fall right next to it gradually killed themselves off, allowing the tasty seed plants to flourish.
The planet's been around a long long time.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Friday August 07 2015, @09:26AM
Have you ever heard of this new idea called "evolution"?
Trees don't know anything. They can't plan at all, regardless of whether they or their constituent parts are alive or dead (which, incidentally, is not always a simple binary distinction). They don't need to. Random mutations - such as leaves which don't decompose quickly - occur and confer advantages or disadvantages which end up being propogated (or not) through the generations.
But one explanation is that the tree noticed
That's a pretty terrible explanation.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk