|| ???E?? O? T?E T?EE?: ?E??? ?O? O?? ??IE?? ?E??T? TO ??I? ||
Rubaiat Al Tousif | Earth's Ants Publications | 8 February 2024

|| ???E?? O? T?E T?EE?: ?E??? ?O? O?? ??IE?? ?E??T? TO ??I? ||

"In the silent language of leaves, trees tell stories of resilience, growth, and the beauty of a life deeply rooted.

"Have we ever wondered if trees are trying to communicate with us? Or even trying to speak aloud when we are cutting or harming them?

Well, it is high time we thought about this because researchers have found some unbelievable facts of the amicable creation. Plants actually emit sounds when they are stressed, infected or cut. The sounds are not actually like a scream, but it is more like a clicking or popping sound. Plants make these sounds in ultrasonic frequencies which are outside the range of human hearing.

A research led by Lilach Hadany, a senior evolutionary biologist and theoretician at Tel Aviv University, reveals that plants emit high-pitched clicking sound under stress due to drought, infections or cuts. But we humans cannot hear the sounds because they exist in the ultrasonic range from 40-80 kilohertz, beyond the typical human hearing range of up to 16 kilohertz.

"Even in a quiet field, there are actually sounds that we don't hear, and those sounds carry information. There are animals that can hear these sounds, so there is the possibility that a lot of acoustic interaction is occurring," says Hadany. Plants undergo some dramatic changes sometimes. For that they show many characteristics and making ultrasonic sounds is one of them.

To find out how plants emit sounds, Lilach Hadany and her team recorded tomato and tobacco plants in a number of conditions. Firstly, they recorded unstressed plants, to get a baseline. Then they recorded plants that were dehydrated and plants that had their stems cut. After that they used a machine learning algorithm to differentiate between the sound produced by the unstressed, dehydrated and cut plants. Eventually the team found the dehydrated and cut plants making popping sounds, detectable within a radius of over a meter (3.3 feet) in ultrasonic range.

The unstressed plants make very little sounds, approximately one or two popping or clicking sounds per hour. However, stressed plants are even more noisier, emitting an average of up to 40 popping sounds per hour depending on the species. Also plants deprived of water have a noticeable sound profile. The algorithm was able to distinguish between these sounds, as well as the species of plant that emitted them. And it's not just tomato and tobacco plants. The team tested a variety of plants, and found that sound production appears to be a pretty common plant activity. Wheat, corn, grape, cactus, and henbit were all recorded making noise.

Even though humans are unable to hear these ultrasonic sounds, some animals could be living in a world filled with sounds of plants such as bats, mice and moths. In the previous work by the same team, it shows that plants respond to sound made by animals. According to Graham Pyke, a retired biologist at Macquarie University of Sydney, Australia who specializes in environmental science, is skeptical that animals listen or respond to the sounds of plants. “It is unlikely that these animals are really able to listen to the sounds at such distances,” says Graham Pyke. Further research can put light on this matter.“


It’s like a symphony of clicks that we’ve been oblivious to all along,” observes Lilach Hadany. In fact, we all have been oblivious to the plant's condition in order to fulfill our demand. Now that we know how plants or trees react to the circumstances, we should be cordial and aware of our approaches towards trees.

Absolutely loved the insights from your article! ?? As Albert Einstein once said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” Your post truly ignites that curiosity and sparks further exploration! ?? Keep bringing the unknown to light, you're doing an incredible job! ?? #StayCurious

John Pondani

John Pondani: Proven Professional in Environmental & Natural Resources Management, Education, Administration & Management. Youth-friendly, punctual, organized, excellent communicator & team player

1 年

Thanks for posting we have noted something important. Thank you

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