Biocommunication (science)

In the study of the biological sciences, biocommunication is any specific type of communication within (intraspecific) or between (interspecific) species of plants, animals, fungi, protozoa and microorganisms. Communication means sign-mediated interactions following three levels of rules (syntactic, pragmatic and semantic). Signs in most cases are chemical molecules (semiochemicals), but also tactile, or as in animals also visual and auditive. Biocommunication of animals may include vocalizations (as between competing bird species), or pheromone production (as between various species of insects), chemical signals between plants and animals (as in tannin production used by vascular plants to warn away insects), and chemically mediated communication between plants and within plants.

Biocommunication of fungi demonstrates that mycelia communication integrates interspecific sign-mediated interactions between fungal organisms, soil bacteria and plant root cells without which plant nutrition could not be organized. Biocommunication of Ciliates identifies the various levels and motifs of communication in these unicellular eukaryotes. Biocommunication of Archaea represents key levels of sign-mediated interactions in the evolutionarily oldest akaryotes. Biocommunication of phages demonstrates that the most abundant living agents on this planet coordinate and organize by sign-mediated interactions. Biocommunication is the essential tool to coordinate behavior of various cell types of immune systems.

Biocommunication theory may be considered to be a branch of biosemiotics. Whereas biosemiotics studies the production and interpretation of signs and codes, biocommunication theory investigates concrete interactions in and between cells, tissues, organs and organismus mediated by signs. Accordingly, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic aspects of biocommunication processes are distinguished. Biocommunication specific to animals (animal communication) is considered a branch of zoosemiotics. The semiotic study of molecular genetics can be considered a study of biocommunication at its most basic level.

Interpreting stimuli from the environment is an essential part of life for any organism. Abiotic things that an organism must interpret include climate (weather, temperature, rainfall), geology (rocks, soil type), and geography (location of vegetation communities, exposure to elements, location of food and water sources relative to shelter sites).

Birds, for example, migrate using cues such as the approaching weather or seasonal day length cues. Birds also migrate from areas of low or decreasing resources to areas of high or increasing resources, most commonly food or nesting locations. Birds that nest in the Northern Hemisphere tend to migrate north in the spring due to the increase in insect population, budding plants and the abundance of nesting locations. During the winter birds will migrate south to not only escape the cold, but find a sustainable food source.

Some plants will bloom and attempt to reproduce when they sense days getting shorter. If they cannot fertilize before the seasons change and they die then they do not pass on their genes. Their ability to recognize a change in abiotic factors allow them to ensure reproduction.

Trans-organismic communication is when organisms of different species interact. In biology the relationships formed between different species is known as symbiosis. These relationships come in two main forms - mutualistic and parasitic. Mutualistic relationships are when both species benefit from their interactions. For example, pilot fish gather around sharks, rays, and sea turtles to eat various parasites from the surface of the larger organism. The fish obtain food from following the sharks, and the sharks receive a cleaning in return.

Parasitic relationships are where one organism benefits off of the other organism at a cost. For example, in order for mistletoe to grow it must leach water and nutrients from a tree or shrub.