Table 4 A summary of the main co-occurring thematic explanations of individual responses for each of the plant behavioral examples asked in the questionnaire
Co-occuring thematic explanations | Habituation in Mimosa pudica L | Conditioned learning in Pisum sativum L | Salt avoidance in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh | Host preference in Cuscuta pentagona Engelm | Nectar in plant–ant relationships | Resource exploitation by roots of Pisum sativum L | Counting and memory in the Venus fly trap | Mycoheterotrophic plants | Tomato plant turns herbivore into cannibals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Uncertain | – | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
Response to external stimuli | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – |
Depends on definition | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 |
Physiological response | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 1 |
Automated response | 4 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
Evolutionary process | 1 | – | 2 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 8 | 26 | 17 |
No conscious thought involved | 3 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
Chemical response | – | – | 1 | 5 | – | 1 | – | – | 5 |
Threshold response | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | 1 | – |
Tropism | – | – | 4 | 3 | – | 2 | – | – | – |
Expresses concern about the study | – | 4 | 6 | – | 2 | 4 | – | – | – |
| Â | Case-specific themes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | Saving energy | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Not considered counting | Mimicry/parasitism is not intelligent | Response not directed by plant |
| Â | 3 | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | 5 | 4 | 7 |
Total number of respondents | 53 | 45 | 49 | 47 | 42 | 42 | 43 | 57 | 52 |