Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35637487›Full record

ArticleJournal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine2022

Understanding interdisciplinary perspectives of plant intelligence: Is it a matter of science, language, or subjectivity?

Jennifer Khattar, Paco Calvo, Ina Vandebroek, Camilla Pandolfi, Farid Dahdouh-Guebas

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 5 countries.

Jennifer KhattarSystems Ecology and Resource Management, Department of Organism Biology, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, CPi 264/1, 1050, Brussels, Belgium. jcarmenyn@gmail.com.
Paco CalvoMinimal Intelligence Lab, Department of Philosophy, University of Murcia, 30100, Murcia, Spain.
Ina VandebroekFaculty of Science and Technology, Department of Life Sciences and Natural Products Institute, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica.
Camilla PandolfiInternational Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology (LINV), Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Science, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Viale delle Idee 30, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Tuscany, Italy.
Farid Dahdouh-GuebasSystems Ecology and Resource Management, Department of Organism Biology, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, CPi 264/1, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Université Libre de Bruxelles · BENew York Botanical Garden · USUniversidad de Murcia · ESUniversity of Florence · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEvidence suggests that plants can behave intelligently by exhibiting the ability to learn, make associations between environmental cues, engage in complex decisions about resource acquisition, memorize, and adapt in flexible ways. However, plant intelligence is a disputed concept in the scientific community. Reasons for lack of consensus can be traced back to the history of Western philosophy, interpretation of terminology, and due to plants lacking neurons and a central nervous system. Plant intelligence thus constitutes a novel paradigm in the plant sciences. Therefore, the perspectives of scientists in plant-related disciplines need to be investigated in order to gain insight into the current state and future development of this concept.

methodsThis study analyzed opinions of plant intelligence held by scientists from different plant-related disciplines, including ethnobiology and other biological sciences, through an online questionnaire.

resultsOur findings show that respondents' personal belief systems and the frequency of taking into account other types of knowledge, such as traditional knowledge, in their own field(s) of study, were associated with their opinions of plant intelligence. Meanwhile, respondents' professional expertise, background (discipline), or familiarity with evidence provided on plant intelligence did not affect their opinions.

conclusionsThis study emphasizes the influential role of scientists' own subjective beliefs. In response, two approaches could facilitate transdisciplinary understanding among scientists: (1) effective communication designed to foster change in agreement based on presented information; and (2) holding space for an interdisciplinary dialogue where scientists can express their own subjectivities and open new opportunities for collaboration.

Indexed as

LanguagePlantsAttitudeIntelligenceKnowledgeInterdisciplinarityPlant intelligencePlant sciencesTraditional knowledge (TK)Western scientific knowledge

Identifiers

PMID35637487
PMCPMC9153103
OpenAlexW4281714109

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.