The idea that the plant world is silent is being questioned by new studies. The secret is out that stressed plants emit a lot of noise. Perhaps even other plants and animals can understand those noises. Also, being able to listen in might help us become smarter about how we cultivate our crops. Especially in a world where climate change is stressing us all out more and more.
According to a news release from Lilach Hadany, an evolutionary biologist and theorist at Tel Aviv University, “Even in a silent environment, there are actually sounds that humans don’t hear. And those sounds carry information.”
According to a report Hadany and her colleagues published yesterday in the journal Cell, tomato and tobacco plants in particular emit clicking noises when they are cut or dried.
Because the sounds are too high in frequency for humans to hear, they haven’t been audible originating from tomato and tobacco plants. That is, until Tel Aviv University researchers installed microphones to listen to the plants in a greenhouse and an acoustically sealed room. They paid attention to thriving plants, dried-out plants, and plants with their stems cut off.
They noticed that the plants frequently generate noise, which increases in volume when they are in difficulty. In the control groups, healthy plants averaged less than one sound per hour. Tobacco and tomato plants that had been cut made about 25 and 15 noises every hour, respectively.
Plants without water made distress cries that lasted longer. In the first few days without water, they became progressively noisy, reaching a crescendo before becoming quiet as they dried out. This made it easy to distinguish between plants that were only somewhat dry and those that were severely dehydrated. A machine learning system that the researchers trained to distinguish between dry, cut, and healthy plants was also successful.
Climate change-induced droughts may lower crop yields globally. According to the report, precision irrigation might increase harvest yields by up to 50% while reducing water use by farmers by 50%.
In the press announcement, Hadany states, “We’re also investigating our capacity to recognise. And interpret the secret in entirely natural contexts.” Her team is still interested in how other animals may react to the noise. “Now that we are aware that plants actually produce sounds, who might be listening?”
Visit CxO Global FORUM or CxO News Live for all the latest updates.
