Read more: 鈥�Rooted in experience: The sensory world of plants鈥�
You have probably heard conflicting stories about the musical preferences of plants. Some people are convinced they flourish when exposed to classical compositions, others believe that heavy metal or bebop does the trick. Strangely, plants鈥� musical tastes show a remarkable congruence with those of the humans reporting them. Although research in this area has a long history, most of it is not very scientific and, if you think about it, experiments studying music and plants were doomed from the start. We don鈥檛 judge a plant鈥檚 vision by showing it an eye chart and asking it to read the bottom line. Olfaction is not measured by its ability to differentiate between Chanel No.聽5 and Old Spice.
Music is not ecologically relevant for plants, so we shouldn鈥檛 expect them to be tuned in to it. But there are sounds that, at least theoretically, it could be advantageous for them to hear. These include the vibrations produced by insects, such as a bee鈥檚 buzz or an aphid鈥檚 wing beat, and minuscule sounds that might be created by even smaller organisms. Plants might even benefit from the ability to detect certain sounds produced by other plants. For example, researchers at the Institute of Plant Sciences in Bern, Switzerland, recently recorded ultrasonic vibrations emanating from pine and oak trees during a drought (), perhaps signalling to other trees to prepare for dry conditions.
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鈥淢usic is not ecologically relevant for plants, but there are sounds that it could be advantageous for them to hear鈥�
from the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology at the University of Florence, Italy, and his colleagues are starting to apply rigorous standards to study plant hearing (). Their preliminary results indicate that corn roots grow towards specific frequencies of vibrations. What is even more surprising is their finding that roots themselves may also be emitting sound waves. For now, though, we have no idea how a plant might produce sound signals let alone how they might detect them.
If this research pans out, then we will know that plants have the same five senses as animals. Either way, there can be no doubt that plants are sensually aware organisms in their own right.
