Microorganisms and plants

[Atomic_Piggy]

As the weekday boredom sets in, I find myself wandering if plants or microorganisms are remotely aware, like people or animals (though obviously to a lesser extent).

Come HL2.net, bombard me with your knowledge.

 

[Eejit]

They can sense the surrounding environment to varying degrees.

Plants can detect touch, light direction, light quality, light duration, etc. and can react to them, but not conciously.


Pretty much the same deal with microorganisms, though if you include viruses they can't really sense much at all.

 

[Raziaar]

Every time you go outside, the plants and trees judge you unfairly. If only you could hear the things they say.

 

[Warped]

plants and microorganisms keep us alive but we're also killing them in record numbers. everytime you want to make your lawn greener your killing the invisible and small creatures that lurk underneath. its a shame people don't realize that what you put into the ground eventually seeps back into the water table and gets right back into you and that your not the first thing to drink that glass of water you just drank. probably billions of microorganisms did it before you ever were even born

 

[barbarbarbarbar]

Plants are conscious but at a much lower level . They feel stuff . For example , if you hurt a plant it will feel " pain " . Not pain like we feel it but something different.

 

[Eejit]

plants and microorganisms keep us alive but we're also killing them in record numbers. everytime you want to make your lawn greener your killing the invisible and small creatures that lurk underneath. its a shame people don't realize that what you put into the ground eventually seeps back into the water table and gets right back into you and that your not the first thing to drink that glass of water you just drank. probably billions of microorganisms did it before you ever were even born

Why would we care about microorganisms dying? Do you have any idea how fast they breed, in what numbers, and how quickly they evolve?

 

[Warped]

Why would we care about microorganisms dying? Do you have any idea how fast they breed, in what numbers, and how quickly they evolve?

because we can still kill them off. around coastal waters around the world there are areas of no or trace amount of organisms. its called the dead zone or something like that and its growing around coral reefs and just about anywhere that river deltas occur

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2008/2008-08-15-01.asp

Once Rare, Coastal Dead Zones Are Multiplying Worldwide
GLOUCESTER POINT, Virginia, August 15, 2008 (ENS) - Around 1910, when scientists began studying the marine areas of low oxygen known as dead zones, there were only four of them worldwide.

Now, there are 405 dead zones in the world's coastal waters, covering a total area of 95,000 square miles, according to the latest research published today in the journal "Science."

A global study led by Virginia Institute of Marine Science Professor Robert Diaz shows that the number of dead zones has increased by a third between 1995 and 2007.

"Dead zones were once rare. Now they're commonplace. There are more of them in more places," Diaz says. Worldwide, the number of dead zones has roughly doubled each decade since the 1960s, his research shows.

Diaz and collaborator Rutger Rosenberg of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden say that dead zones are now "the key stressor on marine ecosystems" and "rank with over-fishing, habitat loss, and harmful algal blooms as global environmental problems."

Dead zones occur when excess nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus, enter coastal waters and help fertilize blooms of algae. When these microscopic plants die and sink to the bottom, they provide a rich food source for bacteria, which in the act of decomposition consume dissolved oxygen from surrounding waters.

Major nutrient sources include agricultural fertilizers and the burning of fossil fuels.
Florida red tide bloom of toxic Karenia brevis (Photo courtesy NOAA)
Diaz and Rosenberg write, "There's no other variable of such ecological importance to coastal marine ecosystems that has changed so drastically over such a short time as dissolved oxygen."

The largest dead zone in the United States today, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, covers more than 8,500 square miles, an area roughly the size of New Jersey.

A dead zone also underlies much of the main channel of Chesapeake Bay, each summer occupying about 40 percent of its area and up to five percent of its volume.

Geologic evidence shows that dead zones were not "a naturally recurring event" in Chesapeake Bay or most other estuarine ecosystems, says Diaz. The first dead zone in Chesapeake Bay was reported in the 1930s.

Scientists refer to water with too little oxygen for fish and other active organisms as "hypoxic." Diaz says that many ecosystems experience a progression in which periodic hypoxic events become seasonal and then, if nutrient inputs continue to increase, persistent.

Earth's largest dead zone, in the Baltic Sea, is hypoxic year-round.

Chesapeake Bay experiences seasonal, summertime hypoxia through much of its main channel.

Diaz and Rosenberg note that hypoxia tends to be overlooked until it starts to affect organisms that people eat. A possible indicator of hypoxia's adverse effects on an economically important finfish species in Chesapeake Bay is the link between oxygen-poor bottom waters and a chronic outbreak of a bacterial disease among striped bass.

Several Chesapeake Bay researchers, including VIMS fish pathologist Wolfgang Vogelbein, believe that the high prevalence of mycobacteriosis, found in more than 75 percent of the Bay stripers, occurs because they are weakened by the stress of encountering the Bay's summertime dead zone.

When the dead zone forms, it forces the stripers from the cooler bottom waters they prefer into warmer waters near the surface.

Diaz and Rosenberg say an even more fundamental effect of hypoxia is the loss of energy from the Bay's food chain.

Without bottom-dwellers such as clams and worms, their predators lose an important source of nutrition.

Diaz and VIMS colleague Linda Schaffner estimate that Chesapeake Bay now loses about five percent of the Bay's total production of food energy to hypoxia each year.

The Baltic Sea has lost about 30 percent of its food energy, which contributes to the decline in its fisheries yields.

Diaz and Rosenberg say the key to reducing dead zones is "to keep fertilizers on the land and out of the sea."

Farmers concerned with the high cost of buying and applying nitrogen to their crops share that goal.

"They certainly don't want to see their dollars flowing off their fields into the Bay," says Diaz. "Scientists and farmers need to continue working together to develop farming methods that minimize the transfer of nutrients from land to sea."

 

[Eejit]

We can kill some off, others will adapt. That's the beauty of them.

 

[Raziaar]

Plants are conscious but at a much lower level . They feel stuff . For example , if you hurt a plant it will feel " pain " . Not pain like we feel it but something different.

It's more intense and indescribably horrible than we feel it!

 

[Warped]

We can kill some off, others will adapt. That's the beauty of them.

some?? I'd rather have all of them in tact. if an asteroid were to be bounced our way and with it traveling at 115,000 miles an hour (average speed for one) from our own solar system heading towards earth, our likelihood of survival with other species would be far less than it was just 300 years ago. its not worth the risk to keep living the way we are

 

[Eejit]

some?? I'd rather have all of them in tact.

Yeah that's the problem with conservationists. They like the products of evolution, but not the forces that drive it - changing conditions and the need to adapt.

 

[Warped]

well its impossible to save everything, that is a known fact. things go extinct because just about every DNA sequence has a time table. but it doesn't mean we should leave our earth in ruins. a species could be dying right now that could save this world 1500 years from now. we just have no idea how bad we're behaving now.

 

[Hurricane]

some?? I'd rather have all of them in tact. if an asteroid were to be bounced our way and with it traveling at 115,000 miles an hour (average speed for one) from our own solar system heading towards earth, our likelihood of survival with other species would be far less than it was just 300 years ago. its not worth the risk to keep living the way we are

I don't understand how having more microorganisms will decrease our chances of being hit by an asteroid.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Plants or micro-organisms aren't concious or self aware, they are all far too primitive and have no cephalisation, therefore have no advanced neuro-functions.

As already said, both have abilities to detect changes in the environment and internally which in turn causes changes in their activity, but this is all preprogrammed from the organism's genes (a product of natural selection). There is no 'thinking' involved.

 

[jverne]

ugh...i hope they don't...otherwise that cucumber i shoved up my ass a couple'o days ago would be pretty pissed at me right now.

 

[Warped]

I don't understand how having more microorganisms will decrease our chances of being hit by an asteroid.

having less microorganisms on our planet when an asteroid hits will decrease the possibility of life on earth. scientists believe we had an extinction event shortly after another extinction event that brought about mammals right after dinosaurs. but imagine a sterile world after nuclear war or after we mess up the world with trash, and then another extinction event occurs, we may never come back. having a healthy world all the time will only help us out in the long run

 

[Hurricane]

Well, yeah, but you're still f***ed either way, right?

 

[jverne]

having less microorganisms on our planet when an asteroid hits will decrease the possibility of life on earth. scientists believe we had an extinction event shortly after another extinction event that brought about mammals right after dinosaurs. but imagine a sterile world after nuclear war or after we mess up the world with trash, and then another extinction event occurs, we may never come back. having a healthy world all the time will only help us out in the long run

damn it...you just stole my ideas


i've been saying a long time that surviving the old fashion way in today's environment is harder than it was...more pollution etc.

 

[theotherguy]

As the weekday boredom sets in, I find myself wandering if plants or microorganisms are remotely aware, like people or animals (though obviously to a lesser extent).

Come HL2.net, bombard me with your knowledge.

Short answer: no.

Long answer:
First, we must define "aware." When we say that something is "aware," we mean that it has some knowledge and understanding of a subject. For instance, when we say someone is "self-aware," it means that they know that they exist, and they understand what the "self" means. Self-aware animals, for instance, can look into a mirror and understand that the thing in the mirror is them. Awareness of your surroundings means that you take in information from your surroundings, process it in some way, and then understand just what is out there.

Micro-organisms are not even primitively aware. They can process some information (mostly chemical, or in some cases, light), but they cannot understand the information. This is because micro-organisms have no means of storing memories. Even if they sense something, they can only immediately react to it. They cannot take the information, store it, and then reflect on it later. Hence, they have no understanding of what is going on around them.

Plants also have no awareness. Plants do take in information from the environment (temperature, moisture, light, etc.) and they can process and react to it. However, like micro-organisms, plants have no central nervous system. They cannot store large amounts of information. Thus, they may "know" about something, but they can never "understand" it. They can only immediately react to stimuli. They cannot reflect.

 

[Eejit]

having less microorganisms on our planet when an asteroid hits will decrease the possibility of life on earth. scientists believe we had an extinction event shortly after another extinction event that brought about mammals right after dinosaurs. but imagine a sterile world after nuclear war or after we mess up the world with trash, and then another extinction event occurs, we may never come back. having a healthy world all the time will only help us out in the long run

Earth will never be completely devoid of life, no matter what we do. The worst we can do is increase the amount of time required for recovery after such an extinction event.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

having less microorganisms on our planet when an asteroid hits will decrease the possibility of life on earth. scientists believe we had an extinction event shortly after another extinction event that brought about mammals right after dinosaurs. but imagine a sterile world after nuclear war or after we mess up the world with trash, and then another extinction event occurs, we may never come back. having a healthy world all the time will only help us out in the long run

So would you suggest that we care about a world which exists after humanity has been wiped out? I have to admit, I find it difficult caring about a world that exists after I'm gone.

 

[Warped]

So would you suggest that we care about a world which exists after humanity has been wiped out? I have to admit, I find it difficult caring about a world that exists after I'm gone.

There is an old Chinese proverb: One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade. its as simple as that. the things you do today effect those who follow in your footsteps. i'm not saying you should care for the world after we're gone. but you should care about your future relatives. our purpose is simple...and painfully obvious

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Purpose is something people give themselves; if they want to.
I know that it's thanks to humans now dead that I have all that I do.
I'll try to leave the world a better place than I found it, but I have no interest in what happens after my death. And I mean interest in the sense that stock holders have an interest in whatever company they own a piece of.
I'm releasing my stock when I die.
As for biodiversity. I don't care much about animals or other organisms dying as such, but the world will be more boring if we lose a lot of what we have. I've never seen a whale or a big cat or an elephant in real life. It would be a shame if those became extinct before I had the chance.

 

[Dog--]

They can sense the surrounding environment to varying degrees.

The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

 

[VirusType2]

ugh...i hope they don't...otherwise that cucumber i shoved up my ass a couple'o days ago would be pretty pissed at me right now.

This. Except, giant pumpkin.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

They are autoresponsorial. They respond with their lower level nervous system only, not having a brain means they respond to stimuli. Like when you take a hammer to a knee it jerks, their lives are like that in a sense.