“Silent Signals: How Plants Communicate — And Why It Matters”

PUNE, June 30, 2025 — What if the greenery around us wasn’t as silent as it seemed? Recent research reveals that plants — those rooted and seemingly still beings — communicate constantly through chemical signals, electrical pulses, and even underground networks.

In what scientists are calling the “Wood Wide Web,” trees and fungi form symbiotic networks to exchange nutrients, warn each other of threats like pests, and even regulate the behavior of nearby plants. A tree under attack by caterpillars, for instance, can emit volatile organic compounds to alert its neighbors — who then begin producing defensive chemicals in advance.

While this idea may sound like science fiction, research from India’s Forest Research Institute (FRI) and international institutions like Germany’s Max Planck Institute has proven the existence of inter-plant signaling. Some studies even suggest plants can “remember” droughts and adapt future growth accordingly — a form of botanical memory.

“This communication is subtle but highly intelligent,” says Dr. Arundhati Mehta, a plant biologist at Savitribai Phule Pune University. “It challenges our assumption that intelligence only exists where there’s a brain.”

The implications of this are vast. If forests are collaborative communities, deforestation isn’t just environmental destruction — it’s the disruption of ancient conversation networks.

The idea has also sparked interest in tech: Indian startup BotanIQ is developing smart sensors that can “listen” to plant stress signals and help farmers take timely action to prevent crop loss.

As we face climate change and environmental decline, understanding the silent wisdom of plants could lead not just to better farming — but to a deeper respect for nature.