Temporal dynamics of plant movement under task constraints

Movement time (MT) reflects how organisms adjust their movements to environmental constraints. In climbing plants, successful attachment to external supports depends on the temporal organization of their exploratory movements (i.e., circumnutation). Yet it remains unclear whether MT in plants varies as a function of different support properties such as its distance and width, and how multiple constraints jointly shape movement execution.

To this end, pea plants were tested with supports differing in width (1.1 vs. 2 cm) and distance (5 vs. 10 cm). MT, circumnutation kinematics (i.e., duration, length and total of circumnutation) and morphological measures were analysed.

Pea plants modulated the temporal dynamics of their approach-to-clasp movement in response to different task constraints. Specifically, MT increased as both support distance and support width increased, indicating that these factors acted as cumulative spatial constraints.

These findings suggest that spatial constraints modulate the temporal dynamics of pea plant approach-to-clasp movements providing a basis for future investigations into how environmental factors shape plant behaviour.