bioacoustics
Bioacoustics is the study of sound production, transmission, and reception in living organisms, traditionally focused on animals but increasingly applied to plants. Research in this field has revealed that plants can both generate and respond to acoustic signals, suggesting that sound may play a role in plant physiology, stress responses, and ecological interactions. Understanding how plants perceive and react to vibrations and sound waves opens new avenues for exploring plant communication, root behavior, and responses to environmental cues.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-12-31
Researchers propose that sound waves and vibrations can influence plant health by triggering physical sensing pathways in roots, which then alter root behavior and the surrounding soil microbiome in ways that could improve crop resilience and growth.
Sound vibrations act as mechanical cues detected by plant tissues via mechanotransduction, triggering calcium and hormonal signaling cascades in roots.
Root responses to acoustic stimuli — including changes in architecture, metabolism, and exudate release — are hypothesized to indirectly reshape the surrounding soil microbial community composition and function.
The review proposes a first physiology-driven conceptual model explicitly linking sound perception → root functional traits → plant-mediated microbial responses, providing a mechanistic (not merely descriptive) framework for future experiments.