This is a fascinating repost i stumbled upon and wanted to share from a fellow preservationist:
Sounds emitted by plants under stress are airborne and informative.
Stressed plants show altered phenotypes, including changes in color, smell, and shape. Yet, airborne sounds emitted by stressed plants have not been investigated before.
Here we show that stressed plants emit airborne sounds that can be recorded from a distance and classified. We recorded ultrasonic sounds emitted by tomato and tobacco plants inside an acoustic chamber, and in a greenhouse, while monitoring the plant’s physiological parameters.
We developed machine learning models that succeeded in identifying the condition of the plants, including dehydration level and injury, based solely on the emitted sounds. These informative sounds may also be detectable by other organisms.
This work opens avenues for understanding plants and their interactions with the environment and may have significant impact on agriculture.
Many animals, including herbivores and their predators,respond to sound.Recently, plants were also demonstrated to respond to sounds, by changing the expression of specific genes,or by increasing sugar concentration in their nectar.
Here we show that plants indeed emit airborne sounds, which can be detected from several meters away, both in acoustic chambers and in greenhouses. Moreover, we show that the emitted sounds carry information about the physiological state of the plant.
source: Sounds emitted by plants under stress are airborne and informative - PubMed
