What future agriculture can learn from nature's cheaters
Thursday, April 7, 2016 - 08:00
in Biology & Nature
In a recent publication, researchers from Wageningen UR investigated what agriculture might be able to learn from the anomaly of 'cheating' plants. Natural selection ensures that cheating plants dominate in the ecological system of plants and organisms with which they interact. These cheaters selfishly use the largest amount of nutrients and other beneficial materials in their environment. There are plants that use their larger flowers to lure pollinating insects away from other plants and plants that grow extra roots to steal nutrients and water from their neighbours.