With the covid pandemic, people adapted to several norms like using masks, sanitising hands and surroundings and ‘social distancing’. A video has appeared on social media which shows plants also perform behavioural tasks like breathing for their survival. Like humans, plants also practise social distancing from each other.
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This phenomenon of trees, where the top of the trees, called the crown, do not touch each other and subsequently form gaps is called ‘crown shyness’. As per the report by National Geographic, this phenomenon helps trees to stay healthy.
Indian Forest Service officer Ramesh Pandey on Wednesday shared a video on Twitter depicting the “crown shyness” of trees. Along with the video, he said, “Canopy of trees especially of the same species don’t touch each other. It’s a kind of social distancing, called crown shyness.”
Commenting on the video, one user wrote, "It's really calming to just stare at the canopies dancing in the wind."
{{/usCountry}}Commenting on the video, one user wrote, "It's really calming to just stare at the canopies dancing in the wind."
{{/usCountry}}At present, scientists don’t have any clear explanation behind crown shyness. Various experts have given various theories for this phenomenon. Botany professor Alan J. Rebertus put forth his opinion that crown shyness could be an adaptive response to prevent collision and limit the spread of parasites between the trees, the report added.
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Another theory suggests that trees exercise cry shyness as a shade avoidance practice so that the sunlight reaches all of the branches and is not blocked by leaves.
(With inputs from National Geographic)