Understanding natural crop defences
Sunday, March 1, 2009 - 09:50
in Mathematics & Economics
Ever since insects developed a taste for vegetation, plants have faced the same dilemma: use limited resources to out-compete their neighbours for light to grow, or, invest directly in defence against hungry insects. Now, an international team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Institute of Investigaciones Fisiologicas y Ecologicas Vinculadas a la Agronomia (IFEVA) has discovered how plants weigh the tradeoffs and redirect their energies accordingly...