Humans have a long history of assuming that not only are we the smartest organism on the planet, but also that everything else is dumber than it really is. For generations, people thought animals were unintelligent, operating purely on instinct. Early scientists who tried to suggest that some animals could experience complex thoughts and emotions, or even communicate them, were ridiculed.

Today, it is generally accepted that animals have far more intelligence than was accepted in in the past.

So, keep that in mind when you read about a new study that has been published in the Royal Society Open Science. This study looked at trees during a partial eclipse, and is claiming that the trees communicated with each other, and reacted to the eclipse together as a group. Not only that, but it suggests that the older trees knew that the eclipse was coming and started to react before it even began.

Now, to be clear, this theory is far from the standard understanding of how trees work. It is, however, one piece of evidence that suggests our understanding is, at a minimum, flawed.

The team was made up of evolutionary ecologists and physicists. They attached sensors to three separate spruce trees in a forest in Northern Italy. These trees were of different ages and not attached to each other in any obvious way. When the partial solar eclipse of October of 2022 began, the researchers claim that the electrical signals between the trees actually increased as if they were talking. Over time, the electrical activity became notably more synchronized.

Professor Monica Gagliano of Southern Cross University put out a statement on the event, saying:

“This study illustrates the anticipatory and synchronized responses we observed are key to understanding how forests communicate and adapt, revealing a new layer of complexity in plant behavior. We now see the forest not as a mere collection of individuals, but as an orchestra of phase correlated plants.”

In the study, it was noted that the signaling was detected in the older trees first, which the authors say would be because they have memories of previous solar eclipses and knew what to expect. Critics of the study say that this doesn’t make sense because this was only a partial eclipse that blocked about 25% of the sunlight from reaching the trees. A thick cloud on an otherwise sunny day could easily cause more of a disruption than that.

The study authors, however, think there is more to it than that. In a video, Gagliano talked about the importance of keeping older trees alive to serve as the memory of a forest:

“This discovery underscores the critical importance of protecting older forests, which serve as pillars of ecosystem resilience by preserving and transmitting invaluable ecological knowledge. It reinforces the idea that older trees cannot simply be replaced by replanting but they need to be protected, because they hold ancestral memories that allow for resilience and adaptation in a state of climatic change.”

While this is certainly interesting, and there are plenty of reasons to avoid cutting down old-growth trees, most experts are not yet ready to jump onboard the idea that the trees are communicating and taking action based on previous memories and experiences.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about 50 amazing finds on Google Earth.