Ariel Novoplansky

Ariel Novoplansky is a Professor of Evolutionary Ecology at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. 

Dr. Novoplansky received his PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and spent a post-doc period at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His work is focusing on the ecological and evolutionary implications of plants’ ability to execute physiological and developmental decisions based on perceived and integrated information. Though the emphasis of his research is on adaptations and behaviors of individual plants, he also explores how plant behavior influences higher population and community organizational levels. 

Dr. Novoplansky is the Director of the Swiss Institute of for Dryland Energy and Environmental Research at the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, BGU. Among his duties in academic administration, he served as Head of the Ecology, Management and Conservation program at the Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, BGU, and Editor in 6 scientific journals including Environmental Science & Ecotechnology (Elsevier), PLoS ONE (PLOS), Ecological Research (Wiley) and Plant Signaling & Behavior (Taylor and Francis).

Seemingly simple in their morphology and architecture, plants are able to perceive and integrate complex cues and signals that allow them to perform elaborate behaviors analogous, some claim even homologous, to those of higher animals. While typically described in terms of organismal responsiveness to changing conditions, logical considerations demonstrate that the larger field of plant behavior is akin to adaptive learning, i.e. the integration and propagation of information relevant to genetic fitness. Here, I plan to briefly describe a few newly discovered abilities of plants to undergo adaptive changes and execute developmental decisions based on perception and learning of information pertaining to imminent challenges and opportunities. Although our knowledge of plant learning and behavior is rapidly expanding, further understanding of its underlying mechanisms is largely preliminary, calling for detailed investigation of the involved controls, and their implications for plant development, growth and reproduction under realistic ecological and agricultural settings.