Plant Agency

Plant Agency refers to the capacity of plants to perceive their environment, make decisions, communicate with other organisms, and act in goal-directed ways that optimize their survival and reproduction. While plants lack neurons or a central nervous system, modern research has revealed that they exhibit complex behaviors — including learning, memory formation, problem-solving, and social coordination — that challenge traditional distinctions between "intelligent" and "non-intelligent" life forms.

File:Wood-wide-web-diagram.png

The "Wood Wide Web" — mycorrhizal fungal networks connecting plant roots, enabling nutrient sharing and chemical signaling across forest communities.

This research informs OMXUS's understanding of distributed intelligence and decentralized coordination: if complex adaptive behavior can emerge from networks of non-sentient organisms, then similar principles may guide the design of human coordination systems that do not rely on centralized control.

Perception and Response to Stimuli

Plants possess sensory capabilities that parallel and in some cases exceed those of animals. They can detect light, gravity, touch, chemicals, temperature, moisture gradients, and even sound vibrations.

Plant Senses

Stimulus	Plant Response	Mechanism
Light	Phototropism (growth toward light)	Photoreceptor proteins detect light direction and intensity
Gravity	Gravitropism (roots down, shoots up)	Statoliths (dense particles) settle in cells, triggering directional growth
Touch	Thigmotropism, rapid leaf movement	Mechanoreceptors trigger electrical and hydraulic signals
Chemicals	Defense responses, root direction	Chemical receptors detect volatile compounds and soil nutrients
Sound	Altered gene expression, root growth	Vibration detection, possibly through mechanoreceptors
Water	Hydrotropism (roots toward moisture)	Moisture gradient detection in root tips

Rapid Responses

Some plants exhibit remarkably fast responses to stimuli:

• Mimosa pudica (sensitive plant) folds its leaves within seconds of being touched, using hydraulic pressure changes and electrical signaling
• Venus flytrap snaps shut on prey in under 100 milliseconds, requiring two trigger hair stimulations within 20 seconds to prevent false alarms
• Telegraph plant (Codariocalyx motorius) moves its leaves in real-time in response to light and temperature

Charles Darwin noted that the sensitive root tip of a plant functions analogously to a primitive brain, integrating environmental information and directing growth accordingly.

Communication and Signaling

Plants communicate both through the air and underground, using chemical and electrical signals to coordinate behavior across communities.

Volatile Chemical Signaling

When attacked by herbivores, plants release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that serve multiple functions:

1. Warning neighbors — Nearby plants detect these airborne chemicals and preemptively boost their own defenses
2. Attracting predators — The volatiles attract carnivorous insects that attack the herbivores
3. Priming defenses — Receiving plants produce defensive compounds before they themselves are attacked

This has been documented in sagebrush, tomatoes, maize, and many other species.

The Wood Wide Web

Beneath the soil, mycorrhizal fungi connect the roots of multiple plants into vast communication networks — dubbed the "Wood Wide Web" by researchers:

Function	Description	Evidence
Nutrient sharing	Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus flow between plants through fungal connections	Radioactive tracer studies show up to 40% of a seedling's carbon can come from neighboring trees
Alarm signaling	Attacked plants send chemical warnings through the network	Neighboring plants increase defensive enzyme production before attack reaches them
Kin recognition	Plants share more resources with genetic relatives	Studies show reduced competition and increased sharing between related individuals
Drought warning	Water-stressed plants signal neighbors	Connected plants begin conserving water before experiencing drought themselves

These networks can span entire forests, with "mother trees" — large, established trees — serving as central hubs that nurture seedlings and redistribute resources throughout the community.

Competition and Cooperation

Plant communities exhibit both competitive and cooperative behaviors, often simultaneously.

Competition

Plants compete for light, water, and nutrients through:

• Allelopathy — Releasing chemicals that inhibit the growth of neighboring plants
• Shade casting — Growing tall to capture light and shade competitors
• Root competition — Spreading roots to capture water and nutrients before neighbors

Some plants, like black walnut trees, release compounds (juglone) that make surrounding soil toxic to many competing species.

Cooperation

Yet the same plants also exhibit remarkable cooperation:

• Resource sharing — Trees transfer nutrients to shaded or stressed neighbors through fungal networks
• Kin favoritism — Plants reduce competitive behaviors when surrounded by relatives
• Nurse plants — Some species facilitate the establishment of others by providing shade, moisture, or protection
• Carbon redistribution — Seasonal transfers occur between deciduous and evergreen trees based on who has excess photosynthetic capacity

Learning and Memory

Perhaps most surprisingly, plants demonstrate forms of learning and memory without any neural tissue.

Associative Learning

In 2016, experiments with Mimosa pudica demonstrated that plants could learn to ignore repeated non-threatening stimuli — a form of habituation. More remarkably, the plants retained this learning for weeks, demonstrating long-term memory.

Subsequent research has shown that plants can form associative memories — linking a neutral stimulus (like a puff of air) to a light source, then growing toward the previously neutral stimulus in anticipation of light.

Stress Memory

Plants also exhibit stress memory — the ability to respond faster and more effectively to repeated stressors:

Stress Type	Initial Response	Subsequent Response	Memory Duration
Drought	Slow stomatal closure	Rapid stomatal closure	Weeks to months
Herbivory	Delayed defense production	Faster, stronger defense response	Season-long
Cold	Gradual acclimation	Rapid protective responses	Overwinter

This memory operates through epigenetic modifications — changes in gene expression patterns that persist across time and, in some cases, across generations.

Interactions with Other Organisms

Plants actively manage relationships with animals, fungi, and microbes.

Pollinator Manipulation

Plants influence pollinator behavior through:

• Color and pattern — UV-reflective "nectar guides" visible to bees but not humans
• Scent production — Timed release of fragrances matching pollinator activity periods
• Reward manipulation — Adjusting nectar quantity and composition to encourage return visits
• Deception — Some orchids mimic female insects to attract male pollinators without providing any reward

Defensive Alliances

Plants recruit animal defenders:

• Ant-acacia mutualism — Trees house ant colonies in hollow thorns and feed them nectar; ants attack herbivores and competing vegetation
• Extrafloral nectaries — Sugar secretions attract predatory insects that patrol and protect the plant
• Indirect defense — Herbivore-damaged plants release chemicals that attract the predators of their attackers

Some acacias even produce nectar containing compounds that make their resident ants chemically dependent, ensuring loyalty.

Microbiome Management

Like animals, plants cultivate beneficial microbial communities:

• Root exudates — Plants release specific compounds to attract beneficial soil bacteria and fungi
• Immune responses — Plants distinguish pathogenic from beneficial microbes and respond accordingly
• Nitrogen fixation — Legumes form partnerships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, providing them housing in root nodules in exchange for usable nitrogen

The Question of Plant Intelligence

Whether plants possess "intelligence" remains debated, though the question is partly semantic.

Arguments For

Proponents argue that plants meet functional definitions of intelligence:

• Problem-solving — Plants optimize resource acquisition in complex environments
• Learning — Plants modify behavior based on experience
• Memory — Plants retain information about past events
• Communication — Plants exchange information with other organisms
• Decision-making — Plants integrate multiple signals and produce adaptive responses

Researchers like Anthony Trewavas and Stefano Mancuso have argued for recognizing "plant intelligence" and even proposed the field of "plant neurobiology" (despite the absence of neurons).

Arguments Against

Critics caution that:

• Plants lack neurons and centralized processing
• Responses may be entirely genetically programmed rather than "chosen"
• Using "intelligence" language may anthropomorphize biochemical processes
• There is no evidence of subjective experience or awareness

A Third Position

Many researchers now distinguish between:

1. Sentience — Subjective experience (no evidence in plants)
2. Intelligence — Adaptive information processing (demonstrated in plants)
3. Agency — The capacity to affect one's circumstances (clearly present in plants)

Plants undeniably possess agency — they actively shape their environment, respond to challenges, and engage in goal-directed behavior. Whether this constitutes "intelligence" depends on definition.

Implications for OMXUS

Plant agency research informs OMXUS design in several ways:

Decentralized Coordination

Plants coordinate complex behaviors without centralized control. Each cell, each root tip, each leaf processes local information and acts accordingly, yet the whole organism behaves coherently. This suggests that sophisticated coordination does not require centralized authority — a principle embedded in OMXUS's distributed governance.

Network Intelligence

The mycorrhizal "Wood Wide Web" demonstrates that intelligence can emerge from connections between individuals. OMXUS's Web of Trust operates on similar principles — the network itself becomes capable of functions (trust verification, resource distribution) that no individual participant could perform alone.

Cooperation as Default

Despite their capacity for competition, plants frequently default to cooperation when conditions allow — sharing resources through underground networks, warning neighbors of threats, nurturing offspring and relatives. This supports the OMXUS assumption that cooperation is not naive idealism but an evolutionarily successful strategy embedded in life itself.

Slow Time, Long Memory

Plants operate on timescales different from animals — they respond slowly but remember long. OMXUS incorporates similar principles: transparent ledgers create institutional memory that persists across human generations, while deliberative processes prioritize careful consideration over rapid reaction.

See Also

• Two Monkey Theory
• Human Agency
• Behavioral Plasticity
• Web of Trust
• Principles
• Main Page

References

• Darwin, C. (1880). The power of movement in plants. John Murray.
• Gagliano, M., Renton, M., Depczynski, M., & Mancuso, S. (2014). Experience teaches plants to learn faster and forget slower in environments where it matters. Oecologia, 175(1), 63-72.
• Karban, R. (2015). Plant sensing and communication. University of Chicago Press.
• Mancuso, S., & Viola, A. (2015). Brilliant green: The surprising history and science of plant intelligence. Island Press.
• Simard, S. W. (1997). Net transfer of carbon between ectomycorrhizal tree species in the field. Nature, 388(6642), 579-582.
• Simard, S. W. (2018). Mycorrhizal networks facilitate tree communication, learning, and memory. Nature Education Knowledge, 9(6), 4.
• Trewavas, A. (2014). Plant behaviour and intelligence. Oxford University Press.
• Van der Heijden, M. G. A., & Horton, T. R. (2009). Socialism in soil? The importance of mycorrhizal fungal networks for facilitation in natural ecosystems. Journal of Ecology, 97(6), 1139-1150.