Plant Seeds Do Something Incredible When the Sound of Rain Strikes

“Plant seeds can sense the vibrations generated by falling raindrops,” reports ScienceAlert, “and respond by waking from their state of dormancy to welcome the water, new research shows…. to germinate in ‘anticipation’ of the coming deluge.”
The finding, discovered by MIT mechanical engineers Nicholas Makris and Cadine Navarro, offers the first direct evidence that seeds and seedlings can sense and respond to sounds in nature… “The energy of the rain sound is enough to accelerate a seed’s growth,” [explains Markis].

Plants don’t have the same aural equipment we do to actually hear sounds, of course. But the study suggests that seeds respond to the same vibrations that can produce a sound experience in our human ears. Across a series of experiments, the researchers submerged nearly 8,000 rice seeds in shallow tubs of water, at a depth of around 3 centimeters (1 inch), and exposed some of them to falling water drops over periods of six days… A hydrophone recorded the acoustic vibrations produced by the drops, confirming that the experiment mimicked the vibrations produced by actual raindrops falling in nature — such as the driving downpours that can sometimes pelt Massachusetts’ puddles, ponds, and wetlands… In their study, the researchers observed that seeds exposed to the falling drops germinated up to around 37% faster, compared with seeds that did not receive the simulated rainstorm treatment but were housed in otherwise identical conditions.

More information in Scientific American and Scientific Reports.