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The article gives at least one answer to that question: the over concentration of chlorophyll can be valuable when competing against other plant. This is a case

The article gives at least one answer to that question: the over concentration of chlorophyll can be valuable when competing against other plant. This is a case where evolutionary fitness doesn't align with the goals of agriculture. This is one out of two typical answers which are 1) The fitness function is different, so there would be a trade-of but we don't mind it. 2) The biochemistry needed is very complicated, requiring many steps and is unlikely to be discovered by evolution.

balabaster 11y ago
If the plant doesn't use all the extra chlorophyll as the article suggests, then what purpose does it serve when competing against other plants. From what I gleaned from the article, this in my mind is akin to a track athlete having 50 pairs of shoes outperforming an athlete that only has 1. If the athlete can't use all 50 pairs of shoes at once, then what benefit do they offer? Can you clarify your interpretation of that statement because I don't get it.
- murbard2 11y ago
  I didn't exactly get it either, because if they didn't absorb the photons with the extra chlorophyll, it's not like it would go to the other plants anyway... I just assumed there is a more complicated reason involving competition that the article didn't bother going into.
  - balabaster 11y ago
    So it didn't really answer the question...
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - murbard2 11y ago
      It hinted at an entire class of explanations.
- _benedict 11y ago
  Plants that may be "behind" this plant in the path of direct sunlight are starved of sunlight by the increased absorption. Thereby reducing their ability to compete for other resources.
- Blahah 11y ago
  It absorbs light which prevents other plants fro being able to access it lower in the canopy. The absorbed light doesn't get converted to food, but is absorbed as heat energy which is radiated away. To use your analogy, there is a set number of pairs of shoes available. Two athletes are to compete against one another. If one athlete wears one pair and takes all the others and throws them away, the other athlete has to run without shoes and will probably lose.

balabaster 11y ago

If the plant doesn't use all the extra chlorophyll as the article suggests, then what purpose does it serve when competing against other plants. From what I gleaned from the article, this in my mind is akin to a track athlete having 50 pairs of shoes outperforming an athlete that only has 1. If the athlete can't use all 50 pairs of shoes at once, then what benefit do they offer? Can you clarify your interpretation of that statement because I don't get it.

murbard2 11y ago
I didn't exactly get it either, because if they didn't absorb the photons with the extra chlorophyll, it's not like it would go to the other plants anyway... I just assumed there is a more complicated reason involving competition that the article didn't bother going into.
- balabaster 11y ago
  So it didn't really answer the question...
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - murbard2 11y ago
    It hinted at an entire class of explanations.
_benedict 11y ago
Plants that may be "behind" this plant in the path of direct sunlight are starved of sunlight by the increased absorption. Thereby reducing their ability to compete for other resources.
Blahah 11y ago
It absorbs light which prevents other plants fro being able to access it lower in the canopy. The absorbed light doesn't get converted to food, but is absorbed as heat energy which is radiated away. To use your analogy, there is a set number of pairs of shoes available. Two athletes are to compete against one another. If one athlete wears one pair and takes all the others and throws them away, the other athlete has to run without shoes and will probably lose.