Do You Hear What Plants and Trees are Saying?

Unlike other living things, plants may seem static, unmoving and unresponsive. But recent studies have revealed that plants communicate, but not just the way humans and animals do. Though many studies have tried to prove that plants and trees could talk and communicate, they have often been relegated to pseudo-science or the wishful thinking of some foresters, botanists and tree arborist service providers.

But several pioneering scientists have found evidence that plants and trees are as sentient as any animal. Though they may not move as many creatures do, plants and trees do communicate and move, not just in the way we expect them to do so.

A study in 2018 revealed that plants use chemical signals in their roots to grow aggressively. But it’s not only plants that do the talking; German forester Peter Wohlleben found after years of research that trees form communities, create alliances and form connections. Their communication is done underground, where roots create fungal and chemical connections enable them to attack, aid and assist each other.

A Web of Roots

Suzanne Simard, an ecology professor from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, conducted a study to find out how plants and trees communicate. Plants and trees used their roots and various signals to reach other trees, whether they were of the same species or not.

This connection has been called the wood-wide web by some scientists. Wohlleben explains that forests use fungal networks to communicate distress, danger, or even disease. Plant and tree roots have hairlike tips that connect with fungal filaments. Some scientists say that these connections could be the basis for the symbiotic relationship between fungus and plants. The relationship could also be economically viable for both since fungi could consume glucose from the trees, while the trees absorb nutrients the fungi produce in the soil.

A New Frontier?

The many studies conducted over the years about plant and tree communication has encouraged scientists to help plants and trees survive challenging environments. They discovered that plants use bacteria and fungi to survive in areas with less water and poor soil conditions. Scientists and researchers are now trying to find how this ability could help farmers in drought-prone areas, as well as in many countries where water is becoming scarce. They also hope that this could help the farming industry lessen their dependence on chemical pesticides.

Protecting Resources

Some researchers are also seeing the benefits of this research to forest protection. If scientists discover the secret of plant communication in a natural system as complex as the Amazon or even the Redwood forests in North America, it could lead to improved protection of the world’s forest systems.

Underground, there is a world of pathways that link trees together that allow them to communicate and behave like humans. These studies are now starting to gain acceptance after years of being relegated to the sidelines. Based on these findings, trees are as sensitive as any living thing, and we could find better ways of protecting the planet and all the living things in it if we only know how to listen.