Latest news with #oftheAcousticalSocietyofAmerica
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Plants can hear tiny wing flaps of pollinators
Our planet runs on pollinators. Without bees, moths, weevils, and more zooming around and spreading plants' reproductive cells, plants and important crops would not grow. Without plants we would not breathe or eat. When these crucial pollinating species visit flowers and other plants, they produce a number of characteristic sounds, such as wing flapping when hovering, landing, and taking off. Depending on the size of the pollinator, these sounds are extremely small, especially compared to the other vibrations and acoustics of insect life. In new research presented today at the 188th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and 25th International Congress on Acoustics, it appears that plants can respond to the tiny wingbeats of insects. 'Plant-pollinator coevolution has been studied primarily by assessing the production and perception of visual and olfactory cues, even though there is growing evidence that both insects and plants can sense and produce, or transmit, vibroacoustic signals,' said Francesca Barbero, a professor of zoology at the University of Turin in Italy. A team of entomologists, sound engineers, and plant physiologists played recordings of the buzzing sounds made by the tiny Rhodanthidium sticticum bee near some growing flowers called snapdragons (from the genus Antirrhinum). The bees in this genus are known to be efficient snapdragon pollinators. The team then monitored the flowers' reactions. The sound of the bees appears to trigger the snapdragons to increase their sugar and nectar volume. The noise can even change how the genes that control both sugar transport and nectar production behave. According to the team, this response could be a survival and co-evolution strategy, especially if the snapdragons can influence the time that pollinators spend on their flowers. 'The ability to discriminate approaching pollinators based on their distinctive vibroacoustic signals could be an adaptive strategy for plants,' said Barbero. What is less clear is whether the plant acoustics can influence the insect's behavior. For example, can sounds made by plants draw in a suitable pollinator. [ Related: ] 'If this response from insects is confirmed, sounds could be used to treat economically relevant plants and crops, and increase their pollinators' attraction,' said Barbero. The team is currently analyzing snapdragon response to other pollinators to try and learn more. 'The multitude of ways plants can perceive both biotic factors — such as beneficial and harmful insects, other neighboring plants — and abiotic cues, like temperature, drought, and wind in their surroundings, is truly astonishing,' Barbero said. The data in this research has not been peer reviewed yet or published in any scientific journal. The project, 'Good Vibes: How do plants recognise and respond to pollinator vibroacoustic signals?' is funded by the Human Frontier Science Program and is a collaborative effort between the University of Turin, I²SysBio in Valencia, and the Centre for Audio, Acoustics and Vibration at the University of Technology Sydney.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Haunting Sounds of The World's Largest Living Thing Revealed
We can now hear one of the largest and most ancient living organisms on Earth whisper with the tremble of a million leaves echoing through its roots. The forest made of a single tree known as Pando ("I spread" in Latin) has 47,000 stems (all with the same DNA) sprouting from a shared root system over 100 acres (40 hectares) of Utah. Here, this lone male quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) gradually grew into a massive 6,000 metric tons of life, making it the largest living organism in the world in terms of mass. After possibly 12,000 years of life on Earth, this massive plant, whose tree-like stems tower up to 24 meters (80 feet), surely has plenty to say. And recent recordings let us 'hear' it like never before. "The findings are tantalizing," Lance Oditt, founder of Friends of Pando, said when the project was unveiled in 2023. "While it started as art, we see enormous potential for use in science. Wind, converted to vibration (sound) and traveling the root system, could also reveal the inner workings of Pando's vast hidden hydraulic system in a non-destructive manner." Sound artist Jeff Rice experimentally placed a hydrophone inside a hollow at the base of a branch and threaded it down to the tree's roots, not expecting to hear much. "Hydrophones don't just need water to work," Rice said. "They can pick up vibrations from surfaces like roots as well, and when I put on my headphones, I was instantly surprised. Something was happening. There was a faint sound." Amid a thunderstorm, that sound increased – the device captured an eerie low rumbling. "What you're hearing, I think, is the sound of millions of leaves in the forest, vibrating the tree and passing down through the branches, down into the earth," Rice explained when he presented his recordings to the 184th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. The hydrophone also captured the thumps from tapping on a branch 90 feet away, even though that sound was not audible through the air at that distance. This supports the theory that Pando's root system is interconnected, but a proper experimental setup would be required to confirm the sound wasn't traveling through the soil. Such shared root systems are common in colonial quaking aspens, but the size and age of Pando make it unique. While quaking aspens can reproduce through seeds, they seldom grow from them as pollination is rare since large aspen stands are usually only one sex, being clones of the same individual. Friends of Pando invited Rice as an artist in residence to try and better understand this strange, enormous entity. Oditt hopes to use sound to map Pando's tangle of roots. "The sounds are beautiful and interesting, but from a practical standpoint, natural sounds can be used to document the health of an environment," said Rice. "They are a record of the local biodiversity, and they provide a baseline that can be measured against environmental change." Rice also recorded Pando's leaves, bark, and the surrounding ecosystem. "Friends of Pando plans to use the data gathered as the basis for additional studies on water movement, how branch arrays are related to one another, insect colonies, and root depth, all of which we know little about today," said Oditt. Sadly, this magnificent tree is deteriorating, leaving researchers concerned that Pando's days and all the forest life it supports are numbered. Human activities, including clearing and slaughtering predators that keep down herbivore numbers, eat away at this ancient being. All the more reason to listen to 'The Trembling Giant' while it can still share its secrets. An earlier version of this article was published in May 2023. Scientists Found The 'Lid' Keeping The Yellowstone Supervolcano From Erupting Sausage Dog Rescued After Surviving Solo For 529 Days on Remote Island The Modern Cat May Have Emerged From Ancient Egyptian Ritual Sacrifice
