The Silent Conversations of Plants

This morning my six-year-old daughter came into our room and began reading a story from a book. She followed each word on the page, slowly forming complete sentences. Sometimes she stumbled and asked for help with certain “funny words,” but by the end of the book she had told us a story about a bear in the snow.

Verbal communication is one of the many reasons why the human species has become so successful. Whether it’s warning each other of danger or communicating complex information, our ability to speak is crucial.

But humans and other animals aren’t the only ones who have developed sophisticated communication. Many people think of plants as passive, but they have their own unique way of interacting with each other. The idea has been around for a while, and has even inspired Hollywood movies like Avatar.

But recent scientific research shows that plant communication systems may be more complex than we imagined.

These communication networks are sensitive and balanced. Imagine how disrupted our world would be if global network systems suddenly went down. The recent CrowdStrike computer outages are just one example of how fragile these systems are and how important communication is, including for plants.

To understand how non-speaking organisms transmit information to each other, it is important to understand that humans also have a non-verbal communication system. This includes our sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch.

For example, natural gas companies add a chemical called mercaptan to natural gas, giving it that characteristic “rotten egg” smell to alert us of leaks. Also think about how we developed sign language, when many people can read lips.

In addition to these senses, we also possess equilibrioception (the ability to maintain body balance and posture), proprioception (the sense of the relative position and strength of different parts of our body), thermoception (the sense of temperature changes), and nociception (the ability to feel pain). All of these abilities have allowed humans to become very sophisticated in their communication and interaction with the natural world.

Other species, notably plants, use their senses to disseminate information in their own way.

What are the neighbors doing?

Most of us are familiar with the smell of freshly cut grass. The volatiles or chemicals released by grass plants, which we associate with that smell, are one of the ways they communicate to other plants nearby that a predator—or in this case a lawnmower—is present, prompting the plants to adjust their defenses. Rather than using auditory signals, plants use chemical-mediated communication. However, plant communication doesn’t stop at volatiles.

Recently, scientists have discovered how well-connected plants are and how efficiently they can send messages to their fellow plants via their roots, electrical signals, a network of underground fungi and soil microbes. The curious surveillance of plant neighborhoods has been discovered.

For example, electrophysiology is a relatively new scientific discipline that studies how electrical signals within and between plants are communicated and interpreted. Thanks to major advances in technology and artificial intelligence (AI), we have seen significant accelerated growth in this field of research in recent years.

Scientists may be on the verge of remarkable discoveries, with recent advances incorporating electrical signal communication within and between plants in modern greenhouses to monitor and control crop watering or detect nutritional deficiencies.

Scientists do this by inserting small electrical probes, similar to acupuncture needles, to test how changes in electrical signals relate to plant performance, such as transporting water, nutrients and converting light into important sugars.

Researchers have even influenced the behavior of plants by sending electrical signals from cell phones, causing them to perform basic reactions like opening or closing the leaves of a Venus flytrap.

Soon we may be able to fully translate the language of our cultures.

Much of the communication between plants takes place underground, facilitated by vast fungal networks known as the “forest web.” This network of fungi connects trees and plants underground, allowing them to share resources like water, nutrients, and information. Through this system, older trees can help younger ones grow, and trees can warn each other of dangers like pests.

It is a kind of underground internet for trees and plants, helping them support and communicate with each other. The network is vast, with over 80% of plants said to be connected, making it one of the oldest communication systems in the world.

Just as the Internet allows us to connect, sharing ideas, knowledge and information that can influence decision-making, the Wood Wide Web allows plants to use symbiotic fungi to prepare for environmental changes.

However, soil disturbance by chemicals, deforestation or climate change can disrupt communication nodes by affecting water and nutrient cycles in these networks, making plants less informed and less connected. Little research has yet been conducted on the effects of disrupting these networks.

But we know that plant reactive behavior, such as defense responses and gene regulation, can be modified by their fungal network if they are connected to such a network.

This disconnect in communication could therefore make them more vulnerable, making it more difficult to protect and restore ecosystems around the world. Scientists still have much to learn about these extremely complex networks.

We know it’s important to help children learn to read so they can navigate the world around them. It’s equally important to ensure that we don’t interrupt communication with plants. After all, we depend on plants for our well-being and survival.