Plant Acoustic Communication

By: Angel Shi ‘24

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Communication is broadly defined as any interaction between two individuals that causes a behavior change (1). Many animals, including humans, zebra finches, and humpback whales, are known to use and perceive sound waves or acoustic communication Despite plants’ visual and chemical communication through volatile organic compounds (VOC) being well studied, their use of acoustic communication is less researched but could still be a possibility (2).

Bat-dependent plants possibly even evolved morphological structures to attract their pollinators From modified petals to concave structures in pitchers and non-photosynthetic peduncles, these structures reflect bat’s ultrasound calls intensively, enabling more effective plant identification (6).

For instance, when experiencing droughtinduced stress, tomato and tobacco plants emit clicking ultrasonic sounds (3) At 20–100 kHz, animals such as mice and moths can perceive those sounds, however, it’s beyond the human hearing range The mechanism of this sound production may be due to an increase in xylem water pressure and the formation of air bubbles, which causes vibrations (3).

Plants also respond to the sounds of other organisms Upon hearing the sounds of bees, beach evening primrose flowers produced sweeter nectar within 3 minutes (4) Playback sounds of a caterpillar chewing could lead rockcress to produce defense molecules (5)

Understanding plant acoustic communication has implications for agriculture, as sensors could be built to detect plant stress, especially since climate change encourages droughts (7) Plants may seem immobile, but they have sensitive perception systems to actively interact with other living organisms around them such as acoustic communication. More research is needed on how plants detect sound and the impacts of anthropogenic noise on their perception.

Works Cited

1

Bradbury, Jack W, and Sandra L Vehrencamp "Principles of animal communication" (1998): 75-112

3

2 Khait, I, Lewin-Epstein, O, Sharon, R, Saban, K, Goldstein, R, Anikster, Y, & Hadany, L (2023) Sounds emitted by plants under stress are airborne and informative Cell, 186(7), 1328-1336 https://doiorg/101016/jcell202303009

4

Dudareva, N, Klempien, A, Muhlemann, J K, & Kaplan, I (2013) Biosynthesis, function and metabolic engineering of plant volatile organic compounds New Phytologist, 198(1), 16-32 https://doiorg/101111/nph12145

Veits, M, Khait, I, Obolski, U, Zinger, E, Boonman, A, Goldshtein, A, & Hadany, L (2019) Flowers respond to pollinator sound within minutes by increasing nectar sugar concentration Ecology letters, 22(9), 1483-1492 https://doiorg/101111/ele13331

5

Bhandawat A & Jayaswall K (2022) Biological relevance of sound in plants

Environmental and Experimental Botany, 200, 104919

6 https://doiorg/101016/jenvexpbot2022104919

Schöner, M G, Simon, R, & Schöner, C R (2016) Acoustic communication in plant–animal interactions Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 32, 88-95 https://doiorg/101016/jpbi201606011

USGS “Droughts and Climate Change | US Geological Survey” Wwwusgsgov, wwwusgsgov/science/science-explorer/climate/droughts-and-climatechange#:~:text=Climate%20change%20has%20further%20altered