But for scientists at the John Innes Centre and the University of Bristol, we should all consider behaving like plants when growing in hostile conditions.

The researchers wondered how plants managed to live side by side in dark places – a bit like city dwellers crammed into the same yard during lockdown.

When they lack light, plants tend to elongate to outgrow their neighbours. However, this strategy is not very effective in very dark environments.

In fact, it would be a considerable waste of energy and detrimental to the survival of the species.

Helping each other out

In research recently published in the journal PNAS, scientists explain that plants change the expression of genes in certain parts of their circadian clock (or biological clock) when they are immersed in deep shade.

This change interrupts the process of stem elongation, and prevents plants from trying to outgrow their neighbours in search of light.

Professor Antony Dodd of the John Innes Centre said: “The biological clock of plants is a key regulator of their development and fitness.

“This work sheds new light on a new role for circadian rhythms in adapting plants to competition with other plants in their environments.”

And while plants rely on mutual aid between neighbours to survive in challenging environments, neighbourly behavior is also widespread in many societies.

In a recent report from INED, the French Institute for Demographic Studies, about relationships between neighbours, demographers used studies conducted in 1983 and 2018 as references for comparison.

They found that neighbourly habits appeared to have remained surprisingly stable.

In fact, three out of four French people visit their neighbour or help them out with small services.