Summary
The communication of plants with their environment is crucial for their survival. Plants are known to use
light, odours, and touch to communicate with other plants, with pollinators, seed dispersers and herbivores.
However, one sensory modality – acoustic communication – is almost unexplored in plants, despite its
potential adaptive value. This is the focus of the current proposal.
Our long-term goal is to understand the roles of acoustic communication in the life of plants: what plants
hear, and what they “say”. The proposed research builds on recent results that strongly suggest the use of
airborne sound in plants: We have demonstrated that flowers increase their nectar concentration within
minutes in response to the sound of a bee’s wingbeat. Furthermore, we have shown that different species of
plants emit brief ultrasonic signals with acoustic characteristics that vary under different conditions. Towards
general understanding of plant bioacoustics we will investigate:
1.Plant hearing. We will investigate plant responses to pollinator sounds to uncover their temporal
dynamics, mechanism, and evolution.
2.Plant sound emission. We will record the sounds emitted by different plants under different conditions,
and use advanced AI to interpret these sounds.
3.Functionality of plant sounds. We will test if and when other organisms – both plants and animals -
response to plant sounds, and the potential adaptive value of these responses.
The proposed project has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of plants and plant communication.
Our results are expected to open entirely new avenues of research such as the evolution of sound
communication by plants, and the bio-mechanics of sound emission and sound reception in plants. Our
results might also have great applicative implications in precision agriculture, including remote plant
monitoring and functional sound emission. These may play a role in fighting the global food-security
problem and pollination crisis.
light, odours, and touch to communicate with other plants, with pollinators, seed dispersers and herbivores.
However, one sensory modality – acoustic communication – is almost unexplored in plants, despite its
potential adaptive value. This is the focus of the current proposal.
Our long-term goal is to understand the roles of acoustic communication in the life of plants: what plants
hear, and what they “say”. The proposed research builds on recent results that strongly suggest the use of
airborne sound in plants: We have demonstrated that flowers increase their nectar concentration within
minutes in response to the sound of a bee’s wingbeat. Furthermore, we have shown that different species of
plants emit brief ultrasonic signals with acoustic characteristics that vary under different conditions. Towards
general understanding of plant bioacoustics we will investigate:
1.Plant hearing. We will investigate plant responses to pollinator sounds to uncover their temporal
dynamics, mechanism, and evolution.
2.Plant sound emission. We will record the sounds emitted by different plants under different conditions,
and use advanced AI to interpret these sounds.
3.Functionality of plant sounds. We will test if and when other organisms – both plants and animals -
response to plant sounds, and the potential adaptive value of these responses.
The proposed project has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of plants and plant communication.
Our results are expected to open entirely new avenues of research such as the evolution of sound
communication by plants, and the bio-mechanics of sound emission and sound reception in plants. Our
results might also have great applicative implications in precision agriculture, including remote plant
monitoring and functional sound emission. These may play a role in fighting the global food-security
problem and pollination crisis.
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More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101098318 |
| Start date: | 01-06-2023 |
| End date: | 31-05-2028 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 2 500 000,00 Euro - 2 500 000,00 Euro |
Cordis data
Original description
The communication of plants with their environment is crucial for their survival. Plants are known to uselight, odours, and touch to communicate with other plants, with pollinators, seed dispersers and herbivores.
However, one sensory modality – acoustic communication – is almost unexplored in plants, despite its
potential adaptive value. This is the focus of the current proposal.
Our long-term goal is to understand the roles of acoustic communication in the life of plants: what plants
hear, and what they “say”. The proposed research builds on recent results that strongly suggest the use of
airborne sound in plants: We have demonstrated that flowers increase their nectar concentration within
minutes in response to the sound of a bee’s wingbeat. Furthermore, we have shown that different species of
plants emit brief ultrasonic signals with acoustic characteristics that vary under different conditions. Towards
general understanding of plant bioacoustics we will investigate:
1.Plant hearing. We will investigate plant responses to pollinator sounds to uncover their temporal
dynamics, mechanism, and evolution.
2.Plant sound emission. We will record the sounds emitted by different plants under different conditions,
and use advanced AI to interpret these sounds.
3.Functionality of plant sounds. We will test if and when other organisms – both plants and animals -
response to plant sounds, and the potential adaptive value of these responses.
The proposed project has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of plants and plant communication.
Our results are expected to open entirely new avenues of research such as the evolution of sound
communication by plants, and the bio-mechanics of sound emission and sound reception in plants. Our
results might also have great applicative implications in precision agriculture, including remote plant
monitoring and functional sound emission. These may play a role in fighting the global food-security
problem and pollination crisis.
Status
SIGNEDCall topic
ERC-2022-ADGUpdate Date
31-07-2023
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