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The web of chemistry and biology that lets our plants decide it's the right time to emerge from seeds is extraordinary. It's also delicate and vulnerable to problems posed by a warming planet but at the same time its also supremely adaptable.

Believe it or not a tiny seed deep under the ground can detect temperature, sunlight and even the presence of other competing plants. There are millions of weed seeds in a hectare of land all waiting for the perfect moment to make a break for the surface.

At the they are working across all sorts of scientific disciplines to understand more about this complex feat of nature. As the researchers based at Wellesbourne explained to me they are bringing together the ecology, physiology and molecular biology of seed dormancy cycling as well as the mechanisms involved in its regulation. Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council or BBSRC.

They also have a sophisticated building that allows them to simulate the impact of global warming on weeds. It's a green house that's open to the natural environment at one end and then inside a clever heating system creates a simple temperature gradient from one end to the other. Basically you can walk from present day to temperatures to 2080 (or at least one prediction for 2080) which is about four degrees warmer.

It leads to an extraordinary change in the seeds. Those at the warmer end of the green house are much more advanced but they may be changed in other ways, such as how the seeds of these plants react to the usual triggers to germinate.

So will we see more problematic weeds in a warmer world? Well more research is needed. It's certainly possible some weeds could become more of a pain for farmers and gardeners. But we could also see the reverse happening. What this research will do is equip future farmers for some of the problems they might face.