00:00trees can also sense touch this is how they know when something is wrapped around their trunk
00:04or touching their leaves some trees use this ability to climb the brazilian pepper tree for
00:10example senses touch through its leaves and uses this information to curl its leaf blades into
00:15tight spirals this makes the leaves look like slithery ribbons which deters animals that might
00:20want to eat them the leaves curl tightly around themselves making them hard to get at but if an
00:26animal persists and starts chewing on the leaves the tree can sense the touch and release acids
00:31that make the animal spit them out the sensitive hairs on the leaves can also sense wind direction
00:36and speed which helps the tree conserve water during droughts by shedding leaves on the windward side
00:42which reduces water loss due to transpiration trees can also sense temperature both extremes at low
00:49temperatures trees produce proteins that protect their cells from freezing and when it's really hot
00:54they can close their stomata which are the pores on their leaves that control gas exchange that helps
01:00reduce water loss some trees can even sense magnetic fields this is important for them because it allows
01:06them to navigate over long distances when growing new roots or branches trees can sense the earth's
01:12magnetic field and orient themselves accordingly this is important for them to access resources like
01:18water and nutrients in the soil or sunlight in the air but sensing the environment is only half of
01:24being intelligent the other half is doing something about it can trees do that well it turns out that they
01:31can
01:32for example trees can respond to touch when they're young their stems often bend toward the touch stimulus this
01:39this is how vines grow as they encounter objects in their path
01:42as they encounter objects in their path
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