World’s Largest Living Thing Makes Beautiful Sounds; Recording Can Be Used To Document Health of Environment

The world's largest living thing makes a sound, and it is reportedly beautiful. The recording was done using a hydrophone planted inside a hollow at the base of a branch.

Pando Makes a Beautiful Sound

Pando - the largest organism in the world can make a lovely sound. This enormous plant, whose tree-like stalks reach heights of up to 24 meters (80 feet), has likely been on Earth for 12,000 years and undoubtedly has much to say. This year's recordings have given us a new way to "hear" it.

Jeff Rice, a sound artist, didn't expect to hear much when he inserted an experimental hydrophone within a hollow at the end of a branch and threaded it to the tree's roots.

According to him, hydrophones don't just need water to function. When he put on his headphones, he was immediately taken aback by what he heard. It also picked up vibrations from surfaces like roots, and he listened to a "very faint sound." That sound became louder during a thunderstorm, and the equipment recorded a sinister low rumbling.

When Rice presented the recordings to the 184th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, he told the audience that what they heard was the sound of millions of leaves in the forest vibrating the tree and passing down through the branches, down into the Earth.

Even though tapping on a branch at a distance of 90 feet was not audible via the air, the hydrophone managed to pick up the sound. This lends credence to the idea that Pando's root system is interconnected, but an appropriate experimental setup would be necessary to establish that the sound wasn't resonating through the ground.

Sound Can Be Used To Gauge Environmental Health, Changes

Lance Oditt, the creator of Friends of Pando, said the results were intriguing when the project was announced in May. He said they saw tremendous potential for use in science, even if it began as art. The wind might potentially non-destructively reveal the inner workings of Pando's enormous concealed hydraulic system if it were transformed to vibration (sound) and transmitted through the root system.

"The sounds are beautiful and interesting, but from a practical standpoint, natural sounds can be used to document the health of an environment," said Rice. "They are a record of the local biodiversity, and they provide a baseline that can be measured against environmental change."

The recording included Pando's leaves, bark, and the surrounding ecosystems. The Friends of Pando wants to use the data in their further study on water movement, how branch arrays are related to one another, insect colonies, and the depth of the roots since only little is known about this at present.

The researchers are worried about Pando's health because it is reportedly deteriorating. They fear its days are already numbered due to human activities and the slaughtering of predators that control the number of herbivores consuming the ancient living organisms.

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