Animals have many methods and reasons for defending themselves, such as protecting their progeny, food, water and territory.

They use claws, fangs, venom, odor, camouflage and work in groups, among others ways, to help facilitate their continued evolutionary success.

We know this happens because we see it going on around us or can watch it on one of the environmental channels.

But, what we don’t usually do is take the time to see how plants do the same thing. Their ways of competing and defending are widely varied and include out reproducing their competition, out living other plants in extreme conditions like drought and flood and using up more of a scare resource than their competition.

Plants also use poison in many cases of change soil conditions to the detriment of other species.

Plants, as far as we’re concerned, operate in slow motion. It can take days, weeks, years and even decades to see the final results of how they compete and defend themselves.

For example, pine trees use several methods. They poison the ground around them with their pine needles. The needles, as they decay, change the Ph of the soil making it more acidic, which is antagonistic to the growth of many other plants.

Pines shade out sunlight, which inhibits plant growth and helps to eliminate the competition. Once a grove of pine trees is established they have the majority of the nutrients and water for their use.

Pines reproduce using the wind to spread large amounts of pollen, which results in yellow on cars. Their seeds are spread by the wind and animals and for the most part result in new stands of pines anywhere the seeds fall on suitable ground.

A general in WWII once said “He who gets there firstist, with the mostist, wins.” I guess the plants were listening.

Some plants use waxy surfaces on their leaves to aid in water retention. There are structures on leaves called stomata, which open and close to regulate water and respiratory functions.

Many plants have thorns and stickers, which inhibit their use as a food source. Some plants use poison as a defense.

For example, tobacco has nicotine which is an insecticide and milkweed does something similar with its milky sap so animals won’t eat it. Some plants can be bad for humans, too.

It has been said that Socrates’ last words were “I just drank what?”

When we look out at the neighbor’s neatly tended flowerbed we are seeing plants that in many cases could not live without us eliminating their competition for them (weeding), providing food (fertilizer) and water, using insecticides to keep the bugs off them and fencing out the animals that would have them for lunch.

Think Global-Act Local!

Dr. “Skip” Lazauski can be seen on the television show “Eco-Bites”, which airs on Mediacom’s channel 14 and Smartel’s channel 4. To reach Dr. Lazauski for questions and comments, send e-mail to IchiOrca@yahoo.com. For more information, see his Web site, drskiponline.com.