BEHAVIORAL-RESPONSE IN PLANTS - ADJUSTMENT IN ALGAL RECRUITMENT INDUCED BY HERBIVORES

Behavioural responses to chemical cues are common among animals, where as there is still intense debate as to whether plants are able to dete ct environmental information and adjust their behaviour accordingly. H ere, I report that several freshwater algal species respond to the pre sence or absence of grazers in the water column by regulating their re cruitment rate from sediment to water. In lakes, as well as in control led laboratory experiments with low abundances of grazers, recruitment of certain flagellated algal species was high, whereas recruitment wa s negligible when grazer abundances were high. Hence, certain plants e quipped with locomotion organelles can use cues released from herbivor es to adjust the timing of recruitment from the 'seed-bank', thereby r educing the exposure to grazing. Such an adaptation may have important consequences for dominance and temporal succession in algal communiti es. In an evolutionary context, this study shows that consumer-avoidan ce behaviour is not an adaptation exclusive to animals.