Pando is spread over 40 hectares. Photo: X screen capture
Recorded the sounds of one of the largest living creatures in the world: what he heard surprised him
Now we have a unique opportunity to hear the whispers of one of the largest and oldest living organisms on Earth. Sound artist Jeff Rice installed special microphones in the root system of the forest known as Panda.
In the US state of Utah, there is a forest known as Panda (which means “spreading” in Latin), which is actually a single tree with 47,000 genetically identical trunks. These trunks sprout from a common root system that spans 40 acres. This lone male aspen (Populus tremuloides) gradually grew to a mass of an incredible 6,000 metric tons, which makes him one of the largest living organisms in the world by weight, writes the Science Alert portal.
The sound of millions of leaves
Experts estimate that the forest is around 12,000 years old, and some trunks rise up to 24 meters high. Sound artist Jeff Rice experimentally placed a hydrophone – an underwater microphone – in a hollow at the base of one of the branches and lowered it all the way to the roots, not expecting to record anything.
“Hydrophones do not necessarily need water for their operation. They can also detect vibrations from surfaces such as roots. When I put the headphones on, I was stunned. Something was happening. There was a low, deep sound,” Rice said.
During the storm, this sound grew louder, and the device recorded an eerie, muffled rumble of thunder. “I believe we hear the sound of millions of leaves in the forest. Their vibrations travel up the trunk, are transmitted through the branches and descend deep into the ground,” Rice explained when presenting his recordings.
Evidence of root system connectivity
Science Alert reports that the hydrophone even detected a strike on a branch almost 28 meters away. This strongly supports the theory of the interconnectedness of the root system of this huge tree, but further experiments will be needed to confirm that the sound was not simply transmitted through the finger.
Such shared root systems are common for aspen colonies, but it is the size and age that make Panda so unique.
The Friends of Panda association invited Rice to an artist residency in order to try to better understand this unusual, huge creature together. Lance Oditt, founder of the association, said at the presentation of the project that the discoveries are very promising: “Although it all started as an art project, we see a huge potential for use in science. Wind converted into vibrations, or sound, traveling through the root system could non-invasively reveal to us the inner workings of a giant plant system.” Oditt hopes that sound can be used to accurately map Panda’s root network.
“Sounds are beautiful and interesting, and from a practical point of view, we can use sounds from nature to monitor the health of the environment. They are a kind of audio record of local biodiversity and offer a baseline for comparison with changes in the environment,” added Rice, who also recorded the sounds of the Panda’s foliage, bark and environmental ecosystem.
An ancient giant is in danger
The Friends of the Panda Association plans to use the collected data as a foundation for further research on water movement, interconnectedness of branch groups, insect colonies and root depth, about which we know extremely little today.
Unfortunately, as Science Alert writes, this magnificent tree is in decline. Researchers worry that the days of the Panda – and the entire life system that depends on it – are numbered. Human activities, including land clearing and predator extermination, seriously threaten the survival of this ancient creature.
