Pallab GhoshScience Correspondent
Listen to the sounds three different plants might make if they were stressed
Animals react to sounds being made by plants, new research suggests, opening up the possibility that an invisible ecosystem might exist between them.
In the first ever such evidence, a team at Tel Aviv University found that female moths avoided laying their eggs on tomato plants if they made noises they associated with distress, indicating that they may be unhealthy.
The team was the first to show two years ago that plants scream when they are distressed or unhealthy.
The sounds are outside the range of human hearing, but can be perceived by many insects, bats and some mammals.
“This is the first demonstration ever of an animal responding to sounds produced by a plant,” said Prof Yossi Yovel of Tel Aviv University.
“This is speculation at this stage, but it could be that all sorts of animals will make decisions based on the sounds they hear from plants, such as whether to pollinate or hide inside them or eat the plant.”
The researchers did a series of carefully controlled experiments to ensure that t
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