7.3 Plants That Listen

This 2014 publication suggests that plants can react to specific sounds.

The study focused on Arabidopsis thaliana, one of the most studied plant species in biology.

Researchers observed that the sound vibrations produced by a caterpillar chewing a leaf triggered the plant to synthesize defensive molecules, such as glucosinolates and anthocyanins. Under those experimental conditions, only vibrations similar to chewing noises produced this response — wind noise or the buzzing of bees did not.

So — do plants hear? Do they respond? And why do they ignore certain sounds?

If we avoid anthropomorphizing these observations, we may better recognise the refined evolutionary adaptations behind them.

Is this extraordinary behaviour evidence of intelligence — or an automatic biochemical mechanism?