SINGAPORE: February's Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) second open bidding exercise opens on Monday at noon.
The tender closes on Wednesday at 4pm.
The total quota available for this tender exercise is 1,608.
Non-transferable categories:
Category A : Cars (1,600cc and below) - 333
Category B : Cars (1,601cc and above) - 303
Category D : Motorcycles 506
Transferable categories:
Category C : Goods Vehicles and Buses - 225
Category E : Open Category - 241
- CNA/ck
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
(CNN) -- Jennifer Kirkland says she caught her 6-year-old son Ethan just staring at a school bus the other day.
He was mesmerized, his eyes locked on the yellow vehicle. He didn't say a thing, and she didn't know what to say to him.
The last time he was on a bus, he was sitting just behind the driver -- as he always did -- waiting for his stop so he could go home.
But the "bad man" got on, and killed the driver, his buddy Mr. Poland.
Appearing on the "Dr. Phil" show, Kirkland told Phil McGraw she was worried how her little boy was going to react the next time she tried to put him on the bus to school.
After being kidnapped, the recovery ahead
Photos: Alabama bunker standoff
HIDE CAPTION
Ethan has been having a hard time sleeping, she told the psychologist turned syndicated daytime talk show host.
He thrashes his arms, tosses and turns and sometimes he calls out.
It has only been almost 10 days since the FBI sent a rescue team into the bunker in Midland City, Alabama, where Ethan was held hostage for nearly a week by Jimmy Lee Dykes.
His mother hasn't asked Ethan what happened when he was there.
"I have not talked to Ethan about it," she said in an interview aired Wednesday. "I don't know how to. As a mother I want him to know that I'm there if he needs to talk. I don't know how to respond because I have never been through this."
Inside the bunker: From storm shelter to boy's prison
Ethan has seen two people shot to death. Dykes shot bus driver Charles Poland several times before he carried Ethan, who had fainted, off the bus and into an underground bunker Dykes had built on his property.
Then the FBI killed Dykes when negotiations broke down and authorities felt they had to rescue the boy before Dykes, who had a handgun, did something rash.
"The Army came in and shot the bad man," Kirkland said Ethan told her.
Kirkland said she had hoped Dykes wouldn't be harmed.
"From the very beginning, I had already forgiven Mr. Dykes even though he had my child," she said. "I could not be angry through this. My job was to be the mother."
She thinks Dykes had a soft spot for Ethan because he has disabilities. Dykes took care of her boy as best he could, she said.
He even fried chicken for the boy.
Still, as the crisis continued, she worried that Dykes might be spooked by something her child did -- or that he had enough supplies to stay down there for months. She worried her boy would think she had abandoned him.
She asked authorities to let her speak to Dykes.
"That's my baby. He's my world. He's my everything," she said. "Everything I do I do for him. And I was afraid I wasn't going to get him back."
When she did get him back, he was in the hospital, putting stickers on everyone in sight.
"Hey, bug, I sure have missed you," she recounted.
"I missed you, too," he answered.
FBI: Bombs found in Alabama kidnapper's bunker
Now she worries that even though he seems like the same playful little boy, there is an emotional storm ahead.
McGraw told her to talk to Ethan about his feelings, not what happened to him in the bunker.
"Let that decay in his young mind," he said.
McGraw asked Ethan a few questions, but as 6-year-olds are apt to do, he answered most with a "Yes" or a "No."
But when the doctor asked him how he got to school, Ethan said, "On my bus, but my ..."
Then he walked over to his mother and as if telling a secret, whispered in her ear, "But my bus driver is dead."
Kirkland told McGraw that it was Poland who helped Ethan conquer his fear of descending the steep school bus steps. Poland would cheer Ethan on and one day when the child hesitated and the mother went to help, the driver said, "Let him do it."
Since then, Ethan has had no problem.
But now his cheerleader won't be there, and Kirkland is anguished about her boy.
"Mr. Poland put him behind him so he could keep a good eye on him," she said.
Ethan hasn't been back to school yet. He's been busy opening birthday presents and playing with his favorite toys. On Wednesday, he made a new friend in Gov. Robert Bentley.
There's a picture from the event where little Ethan is sitting underneath the governor's desk. The child is beaming.
"Ethan is a loving, forgiving child," Kirkland said. "He is easy to go up to a perfect stranger and say, 'Can I have a hug?'"
That was the boy who went into that bunker. She is concerned it's not the child who came out.
(CBS News) BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. - Remains of a man who was in a burned California cabin on Tuesday have been positively identified as belonging to that of Christopher Dorner, the former LAPD officer who was suspected of killing four people and was the subject of an intense manhunt, officials confirmed.
The San Bernardino County Coroner's office said the positive identification was made through dental records.
The final hours of the manhunt for Christopher Dorner began when Jim and Karen Reynolds opened the door of one of their rental condos.
Police fill in the blanks on Dorner's last day
Carjacking victim: Christopher Dorner told me "I don't want to hurt you"
Deputy slain in ex-cop shootout was new father
"We had come into the living room and he opened the door and came out at us," said Karen.
"He had the gun drawn," added Jim.
A man believed to be Dorner tied them up.
"He talked to us, trying to calm us down," said Karen, "and saying very frequently he would not kill us."
He then took their car. "We listened for probably a minute or two, wanted to make sure he was gone," said Jim, "sounded quiet. And then we started struggling trying to get loose."
They called 911, triggering a chain of events that ended with Tuesday's shootout in which two sheriffs deputies were shot. Thirty-five-year-old Jeremiah MacKay died from his wounds.
The firefight that we witnessed was intense and we were forced to take cover - however, we left his cell phone on. Early in the standoff you could hear officers suggesting burning the suspect out.
One officer can be heard saying, "Burn that ------ out , burn it down, ------ burn this mother-----"
Four more hours would pass before police used high-powered tear gas. The canisters are known to be a fire hazard.
"We did not intentionally burn down that cabin to get Mr. Dorner out," San Bernandino Sheriff John McMahon had said.
Dorner's body was found in the ashes. It's unclear if the cause of death was from the fire -- or a single shot we heard moments after the cabin ignited.
Meanwhile, investigators looking through a trash bin in Irvine, California, where the first two victims were killed, recovered Dorner's badge, a police uniform, and a high-capacity ammo magazine.
CBS News asked San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department about the audio we recorded, and they declined to comment.
Christopher Dorner, the ex-Los Angeles police officer who declared himself on a killing spree against his former law enforcement colleagues, is dead.
Authorities this evening confirmed that remains found after a fiery standoff at a California mountain cabin Tuesday were, in fact, Dorner's.
"The charred human remains located in the burned out cabin in Seven Oaks have been positively identified to be that of Christopher Dorner," the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner's Office said in a written statement. "During the autopsy, positive identification was made through dental examination."
FULL COVERAGE: Christopher Dorner Manhunt
PHOTOS: Former LAPD Officer Suspected in Shootings
In a 6,000-word "manifesto," Dorner outlined his anger at the Los Angeles Police Department for firing him, and made threats against individuals he believed were responsible for ending his career with the police force five years ago. Dorner was fired after filing what the LAPD determined to be a false report accusing other cops of brutality.
Dorner is suspected of killing four people, including Monica Quan and her fiance, who were found shot to death Feb. 3. Quan was the daughter of former LAPD Capt. Randal Quan, who was mentioned as a target of Dorner's fury in the manifesto.
Dorner is also suspected in the shooting death of Riverside, Calif., Police Officer Michael Crain, whose funeral was Wednesday.
San Bernardino Sheriff's Deputy Jeremiah MacKay, 35, a 15-year veteran and the father of two children, was killed in Tuesday's shootout at the cabin.
A second San Bernardino County sheriff's officer had to undergo multiple surgeries after he was wounded in the cabin shootout, and other officers also were wounded in earlier alleged encounters with Dorner.
After Crain's death, police tracked Dorner to the Big Bear Lake area of Southern California, where his burning truck was found in the mountains late last week.
A couple with a cabin in the area were some of the last people to see Dorner before his final encounter with police. Their 911 call to police triggered a chase that concluded with the fiery standoff at the nearby cabin.
The couple, Karen and Jim Reynolds, said at a news conference Wednesday that their ordeal lasted a few minutes but seemed like hours.
The Reynolds believe Dorner, 33, was holed up starting Friday in their unoccupied cabin in Big Bear, Calif., only steps from where police had set up a command center.
"He said four or five times that he didn't have a problem with us, he just wanted to clear his name," Jim Reynolds said. "He said, 'I don't have a problem with you, so I'm not going to hurt you.'"
Dorner tied their arms and put pillowcases over their heads before fleeing in their purple Nissan, the couple said.
Before he fled, the couple said Dorner told them that he had been watching them before he took over their cabin. Dorner told the couple he could tell they were "hard working, good people."
"He had been watching us and saw me shoveling the snow Friday," Jim Reynolds said.
They say they may have left the cabin door unlocked and that could have been the reason Dorner was able to enter undetected.
Dorner remained "calm and meticulous" throughout the harrowing ordeal, the couple said.
The Reynolds walked into their cabin around noon Tuesday when they came face-to-face with Dorner. There was no question in their minds who he was -- the suspected cop killer at the center of one of the largest manhunts in recent memory.
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LONDON: London's Olympic Stadium will stage three days of athletics in July, including one devoted solely to Paralympic competition, British Athletics has announced.
The London Anniversary Games, which will take place from July 26-28 and in the process mark a year since the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, will incorporate the annual two-day Diamond League meeting on the Friday and Saturday, but also, for the first time, a day of purely Paralympic competition on the Sunday.
Sebastian Coe, who chaired the London 2012 Organising Committee and is now chairman of the British Olympic Association, said it was terrific news.
"I am delighted that the London Anniversary Games has been confirmed as three days of international athletics this July.
"London 2012 was an amazing year for British sport and what a way to celebrate its success by welcoming the world back to London once more to watch the biggest names in athletics."
British middle distance great Coe, the Olympic 1,500 metres gold medallist at both the 1980 and 1984 Games in Moscow and Los Angeles respectively, added he hoped this July's event would build on the success of London 2012.
"It is an important part of the London 2012 legacy that as many people as possible experience world class sport in the world class facilities at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and I'm sure the London Anniversary Games will go a long way to inspiring the next generation of track and field fans."
Former Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu, who grew up in Stratford, added: "The London Diamond League has always been one of my favourite meets so it's fantastic that it's retaining its two day format.
"The atmosphere in the stadium was phenomenal last year and I'll never forget it -- it was very special for me as a local girl."
Officials had already announced the London Diamond League meeting would move to the Olympic venue in the eastern district of Stratford from Crystal Palace in south London.
But on Wednesday they said in addition to the usual track and field meeting on the first two days, the weekend would be topped off by a day of Paralympic competition in the Olympic Stadium, that will come soon after the International Paralympic Committee World Championships in Lyon, eastern France.
Earlier in July, two rock music concerts will see the 80,000-seater Olympic Stadium used for the first time since the Paralympics closing ceremony in September.
Although the Olympic Stadium is due to stage the 2017 World Athletics Championships, doubt remains over its long-term future.
English Premier League football club West Ham have been named as the preferred bidder for the tenancy and a final decision on their bid is expected before April.
The £292 million ($463 million, 348 million euro) complete transformation of the Olympic Park, which began when the London 2012 Games ended, is set to take 18 months.
-AFP/gn
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Follow the story here and at CNN affiliates KCBS/KCAL, KABC and KTLA. Anderson Cooper 360ยบ devotes the entire hour to the frenzied manhunt, the final shootout, and the people allegedly killed by an ex-LA cop. Watch "9 Days of Terror: The Hunt for Christopher Dorner" Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.
Riverside, California (CNN) -- Authorities said Wednesday they are reasonably sure that the body found inside the burned cabin near Big Bear Lake, California, is that of Christopher Dorner, the rogue ex-cop who allegedly had been pursuing a vendetta against his fellow officers.
"We believe that this investigation is over, at this point, and we'll just need to move on from here," San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon told reporters.
Although the description and behavior of the man who was killed are consistent with Dorner, officials "cannot absolutely, positively confirm it was him," McMahon said.
"We're not currently involved in a manhunt," he said. "Our coroner's division is trying to confirm the identity through forensics."
Authorities say Dorner launched a guerrilla war against the Los Angeles Police Department over what he considered his unfair dismissal in 2009.
McMahon identified a sheriff's detective who was fatally shot Tuesday by the man presumed to have been Dorner as Jeremiah MacKay. MacKay, 35, was a 15-year veteran and married with two children, a 7-year-old daughter and a 4-month-old son.
Another officer has undergone "a couple of different surgeries" after being wounded in the shootout. "He's in good spirits and should make a full recovery after a number of additional surgeries," McMahon said.
The two men were ambushed when they responded to a report of a vehicle stolen by a suspect matching Dorner's description, McMahon said.
"It was like a war zone, and our deputies continued to go into that area and tried to neutralize and stop the threat," McMahon said. "The rounds kept coming, but our deputies didn't give up."
The suspect then fled into a nearby vacant cabin, which caught fire after police shot tear gas canisters into it, McMahon said.
Although the canisters included pyrotechnic tear gas, which generates heat, "We did not intentionally burn down that cabin to get Mr. Dorner out," McMahon said.
It was not clear how long the man believed to have been Dorner had been in the cabin, said San Bernardino County Deputy Chief Steve Kovensky.
Last Thursday, after Dorner's burned-out vehicle was found nearby, "each cabin" in the area had been inspected for signs of break-in or open doors, he said.
"I don't believe that there (was) anybody in there on Thursday, at the start of the investigation," he said. "We did not find any forced entry."
But neighbors have told CNN that no one knocked on their doors.
It wasn't clear when a formal identification could be made of the charred remains found in the cabin about 100 miles east of Los Angeles after Tuesday's shootout with police. Until then, "a lot of apprehension" remains in the ranks of the LAPD, Lt. Andy Neiman said.
"It's been a very trying time over the last couple of weeks for all of those involved and all those families, friends and everybody that has been touched by this incident," he said.
On Wednesday, police from around the Los Angeles area and beyond gathered to bury Michael Crain, who was fatally shot by the 33-year-old former Navy officer.
Dorner is also accused of killing the daughter of a former LAPD captain and her fiance and of shooting three other cops, including Crain's partner.
A squad of bagpipers led Crain's flag-draped casket through a cordon of blue uniforms into a church in Riverside, the Los Angeles suburb where he served 11 years on the force.
The mourners who packed the church included California Gov. Jerry Brown, his Highway Patrol chief and law enforcement from a number of other agencies around the region.
"I knew that communities would reach out, and I knew a lot of people loved Mike," Regina Crain, the slain officer's widow, told them. "And I knew that I would have support no matter what. But I really did not realize the sheer scale of this, and how many people are touched by his life. It gives me really great comfort to see that, and I want to thank you all."
'A very trying time' for the LAPD
Timeline in manhunt
Investigators began scouring the mountains last Thursday, when investigators found Dorner's scorched pickup. Police, sheriff's deputies and federal agents swarmed into the area, working through a weekend blizzard, but the trail was cold for days.
On Sunday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said it had scaled back the search. Villaraigosa announced a $1 million reward for information leading to Dorner's arrest and conviction, spurring hundreds of tips.
Then, early Tuesday afternoon, California Fish and Wildlife wardens said they had spotted a man who appeared to be Dorner driving a purple Nissan down icy roads near Big Bear Lake.
'Here comes this guy with a big gun'
The wardens, driving in two different vehicles, chased Dorner, and a gun battle ensued. One of the warden's cars was hit, and Dorner crashed his car and ran, according to authorities. He then carjacked a pickup truck.
Rick Heltebrake, a camp ranger, said he was driving when he saw the crashed purple vehicle -- and then something terrifying.
How authorities identify a burned body
"Here comes this guy with a big gun, and I knew who it was right away," Heltebrake told CNN affiliate KTLA. "He just came out of the snow at me with his gun at my head. He said, 'I don't want to hurt you. Just get out of the car and start walking.' "
Heltebrake said the man let him take his dog and walk away with his hands up.
"Not more than 10 seconds later, I heard a loud round of gunfire," Heltebrake said. "Ten to 20 rounds, maybe. I found out later what that was all about."
Dorner fled to a nearby cabin and got into another shootout, this time with the San Bernardino County deputies, killing one and wounded another.
Some of the firefight between police and the suspect was captured live on the telephone of a reporter for CNN affiliates KCBS and KCAL. Police in Los Angeles listened live over police scanners broadcast on the Internet, Neiman said.
"It was horrifying to listen to that firefight," he said. "To hear those words, 'officer down,' is the most gut-wrenching experience you can have as a police officer, because you know what that means."
'Maintain your discipline'
A law enforcement source told CNN the cabin caught fire when police tossed smoke devices inside. The cabin was fully ablaze within minutes and burned for hours as authorities waited at a distance.
Devices such as "flash-bang" grenades and tear gas canisters designed to disorient and disable suspects can cause fires, CNN contributor Tom Fuentes, a former FBI assistant director, said Wednesday. But it wasn't clear exactly how the fire started.
Audio from a Los Angeles television station captured the sound of someone early in the standoff shouting, "Burn it down ... burn that goddamn house down. Burn it down." It's not clear who used those words.
But the order to use smoke canisters -- "burners" -- didn't come for another two hours, according to San Bernardino County sheriff's radio traffic.
"Seven burners deployed, and we have a fire," one officer reported at 4:16 p.m. (7:16 p.m. ET).
Five minutes later, a single gunshot was reported from inside the house. A senior officer ordered units around the cabin, "Stand by. Maintain your discipline." About a minute after that, officers reported ammunition exploding inside.
After initially saying that no body had been found, sheriff's investigators confirmed overnight that they had found charred human remains among the ashes.
Dorner cheered in some quarters
Dorner had vowed to kill police officers to avenge what he called his unfair termination. He was fired after accusing his training officer of kicking a suspect during a July 2007 arrest -- a complaint the LAPD concluded was unfounded.
Talk Back: Does the Dorner case teach us anything about guns?
The department accused him of lying to superiors and to internal affairs investigators and forced him out in January 2009. Dorner challenged his dismissal in court but was unsuccessful.
Dorner was first named a suspect in two shooting deaths on February 3: Monica Quan, the daughter of his police union representative, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence.
Police say he killed Crain and wounded Crain's partner in an ambush on their patrol car Thursday. They say he also wounded an LAPD officer who chased him in the suburban city of Corona, California.
In a manifesto explaining his rampage, Dorner said nothing had changed in the LAPD since its scandals of the 1990s, the Rodney King beating and the Rampart police corruption case. Those allegations have struck a chord with some who say that, despite the four killings, Dorner was seeking justice.
Shadowed by that history, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announced Saturday that the department would re-examine its proceedings against Dorner. The review is "not to appease a murderer," but "to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all things we do," he said.
CNN's Miguel Marquez, Paul Vercammen, Stan Wilson, Casey Wian, Kathleen Johnston, Alan Duke, Lateef Mungin, Chelsea J. Carter, Michael Martinez, Holly Yan and Michael Pearson contributed to this report.
Updated 8:13 PM ET
(MoneyWatch) A source told CBS News that the boards of American Airlines and US Airways (LCC) have approved a merger that would create the world's biggest carrier.
Under the deal, which is expected to be unveiled Thursday if the timeline isn't moved up sooner and there are no last-minute snags, the combined airline would keep the "American" name. It would still require federal approval, although that is virtually ensured. US Air CEO Doug Parker is expected to lead the combined company.
A merger of US Air and American would surpass a 2010 tie-up between United Airlines (UAL) and Continental and a 2008 deal joining Delta (DAL) and Northwest. The merged American would be the largest carrier and sport a market valuation of roughly $10 billion.
Although airlines tout such consolidation as a way to cut costs and expand service amid intense competition, whether industry mergers raise fares is an open question. Many analysts say yes because reduced competition in any business often results in higher prices. One study found that ticket prices went up more than 20 percent between Detroit and Atlanta after Delta bought Northwest. Fares went up more than 30 percent on routes between Chicago and Houston, as well as Newark to San Francisco, after the United-Continental deal.
In seeking to run more efficiently, merging airlines also often cut capacity and eliminate routes.
Other analysts are more optimistic about the potential benefits to travelers. They say the three largest U.S. airlines still must compete with discount carriers such as Southwest (LUV), which has flourished for years by offering low-cost flights and no-frills service.
The consolidation trend is largely blamed on the price of fuel. Oil now costs so much more per barrel than it did 10 years ago that one analyst says the margin of profit on many flights has shrunk to the value of a single seat. That means an airline can lose money if it flies with one single empty middle seat. The days of elbow room are over.
American Airlines has been operating under court supervision since declaring bankruptcy in November 2011.
A Texas couple's fantasy wedding quickly turned into a nightmare honeymoon when the fire-damaged Carnival Cruise ship carrying them became stranded in the Gulf of Mexico.
Rob Mowlam, 37, and Stephanie Stevenson, 27, of Nederland, Texas, got married on the Carnival Triumph on Saturday. The four-day cruise was meant to be back to shore on Monday, but was left disabled by an engine fire on Sunday.
The ship is being slowly towed to shore and is expected to dock in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday if weather permits. The vessel is without air conditioning, many working toilets and some restaurant service. Passengers, many who are sleeping in tents on deck, have told ABC News the smell on the ship is foul.
That is the honeymoon setting for Mowlam and Stevenson.
"[Rob Mowlam] had been with his girlfriend, or fiance, for a long period of time and they just took the next step," Mowlam's brother James Mowlam III told ABCNews.com. "The captain is the king of the world when they're on the boat and he hitched them up."
James Mowlam said he was shocked when he heard about the stranded boat and the increasingly dire conditions on the ship.
"It is an atrocious scene to be subjected to," he said.
Mowlam said he has not been able to communicate with his brother, but that his father has had sporadic communication with him.
"It would be my guess that this would probably not be on anyone's great list of memorable wedding experiences," Mowlam said with a laugh. "Although, my mom told him that she was hoping they had a memorable wedding and I think this would classify as a memorable wedding experience."
Lt. Cmdr. Paul McConnell/U.S. Coast Guard/AP Photo
The bride's brother, Justin Davis, told ABCNews.com that his sister works for a doctor's office and the cruise was a gift from the doctor to the staff.
Davis has not been able to speak to Stevenson but said that her two young sons are being cared for by her mother. He said his sister is tough and he guesses she's probably not scared.
"She might be a little aggravated at the situation, but I'd say she's [probably] handling it really well," he said.
Others on the ship do not seem to be handling the situation so well.
Elderly and disabled passengers aboard the ship are struggling to cope with the worsening conditions, according to at least one passenger.
"Elderly and handicap are struggling, the smell is gross," passenger Ann Barlow text-messaged ABC News overnight. "Our room is leaking sewage."
The head of Carnival Cruise Lines said the British-U.S.-owned company was working hard to ensure the thousands of passengers stranded on the disabled ship were as comfortable as possible while the vessel was being towed to a port in Alabama.
"I need to apologize to our guests and to our families that have been affected by a very difficult situation," Carnival Cruise Lines president and CEO Gerry Cahill said at a news conference Tuesday evening.
It was the first time since a fire erupted in Triumph's engine room Sunday, knocking out its four engines, that a company representative had spoken publicly. The Triumph, with roughly 4,200 people on board, was left bobbing like a 100,000-ton cork for more than 24 hours. Giant sea-faring tugboats then hooked up to the ship and began towing the nearly 900-foot-long ship to land.
Carnival spokeswoman Joyce Oliva told The Associated Press Tuesday that a passenger with a pre-existing medical condition was taken off the ship as a precaution. Everyone else will likely have to weather conditions such as scarce running water, no air conditioning and long lines for food.
Back on land, passenger Barlow's 11-year-old twins told ABC News Tuesday they are worried as more passengers continue to talk about living with limited power and sanitation.
It is not just humans that like a natter with their nearest and dearest – plants pay most attention to their closest relatives.
When an insect bites a leaf, many plants release volatile chemicals to prime their neighbours for attack. The defences this triggers vary – some plants respond by attracting predatory insects that eat the herbivores, others make themselves less tasty.
Now Richard Karban of the University of California, Davis, has shown that for the sagebrush, responses to these warning signals can vary with relatedness.
At the start of three growing seasons, Karban's team exposed different branches of the same plants to volatile chemicals. The substances came from relatives of the same species whose leaves had been clipped to trigger chemical release.
By the end of the seasons, herbivores had done less damage to the branches exposed to chemicals from close relatives than to those receiving signals from more distant relatives – the warning probably prompting the plants to release herbivore-deterring chemicals, says Karban.
He has previously shown that the blend of volatiles varies enormously between individuals – "so much so that big peaks in some individuals are undetectable in others", he says.
However, there is some similarity between family members. Karban thinks this variability is being exploited by the plants as a kind of family-specific signature, to prevent eavesdroppers from listening in and to give those that share the same genes a greater chance of survival.
Some plants are genetically more resistant to being eaten than others, so it makes sense that plants should care more about their kin's fate than that of the general population.
"It is very elegant work," says Susan Dudley from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, who has shown that plants competing for space in a small pot are less aggressive if they are related to their neighbours.
She thinks this kind of kin-recognition is probably common among many plants.
Journal Reference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2012.3062
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