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Plants send out 'distress calls' – but can other plants hear them?

Some studies have claimed that plants emit sounds when stressed and might perceive the distress calls of other plants, but a review finds the evidence is lacking

By Adrian Barnett

12 March 2024

Some plants emit sounds when they are under attack by herbivores

Raymond Keller/Shutterstock

The idea that plants communicate by sound has caught on among some scientists and the media – but there is no solid evidence that it is true, according to a review of published studies.

“Plants are not capable of exchanging information through the acoustic channel,” says Nicolas Mathevon at Jean Monnet University in Saint-Etienne, France.

Since as far back as 1970s, scientists have known that plants make sounds…

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