Plants lack central nervous systems; the mechanisms coordinating plant sensing, behavior, and communication are quite different from the systems that accomplish similar tasks in animals. The challenges that face plants are similar to those facing animals—finding resources, avoiding predators, pathogens, and abiotic stresses, acquiring mates, placing offspring in situations where they are likely to be successful. The modes of selection are also basically similar for plants and animals. As a result, natural selection has led to the evolution of solutions to these challenges that are often analogous. Nonetheless, there are many important differences between plants and animals that have led to very different adaptations, … … There is a consensus … Continue reading Richard Karban