New study reveals spruce trees communicate during a solar eclipse

Study location in the Dolomite mountains in Italy (Image credit: Monica Gagliano/Southern Cross University)

A groundbreaking international study has revealed that spruce trees do not merely respond to solar eclipses—they anticipate them. The research, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, demonstrates that these trees synchronize their bioelectrical signals hours before the eclipse, triggering a forest-wide phenomenon.

The study, led by Professor Alessandro Chiolerio of the Italian Institute of Technology and the University of the West of England, and Professor Monica Gagliano from Southern Cross University in Australia, offers new insights into how plants may communicate and coordinate responses in their ecosystems. The findings suggest that older trees show more pronounced early reactions, indicating they may possess a memory of environmental changes built over decades.

“This study illustrates how trees exhibit anticipatory and synchronized responses, key to understanding how forests communicate and adapt to external events,” said Professor Gagliano. “It’s like watching the famous ‘wood wide web’ in action!”

The research team deployed custom-built, low-power sensors across a forest in the Dolomites, Italy, to record the bioelectrical responses of multiple trees during a solar eclipse. The data revealed that, in the hours leading up to the eclipse, the electrical activity of individual trees began to synchronize. This behavior suggests that spruce trees are not isolated organisms but rather part of a unified living system that coordinates its response to external stimuli.

“By applying advanced analytical methods, including complexity measures and quantum field theory, we’ve uncovered a deeper dynamic synchronization between trees,” explained Professor Chiolerio. “We now understand the forest as an orchestra, with trees acting in harmony.”

The study also highlighted the crucial role that older trees play in this process. The team observed that mature trees responded more quickly to the eclipse, suggesting that they may carry an ecological memory of past environmental events, which could help inform the younger trees in the forest about upcoming phenomena.

“The fact that older trees respond first, potentially guiding the collective response of the entire forest, speaks volumes about their role as memory banks of past environmental changes,” Professor Gagliano noted. “This discovery underscores the importance of protecting older forests, which help preserve and transmit vital ecological knowledge.”

The research calls attention to the need to protect and conserve older trees, which play a critical role in ecosystem resilience. With their ability to retain and share ecological knowledge, these trees are essential to maintaining the health and stability of forests.

This pioneering research will soon be featured in the upcoming documentary Il Codice del Bosco (The Forest Code), slated for release in May 2025 in Italy.