Ecologists

Plants can react to sounds. University of Missouri chemical ecologists Heidi Appel and Jack Schultz recorded the subtle chewing noises of a caterpillar eating a plant. Being eaten stimulated the plant’s defenses. But when the sounds were played to another plant that was not being eaten, they triggered a defensive response.

Ecologists say the environmental damage is alarming. Overlogging and failure to replant cause widespread soil erosion and loss of wildlife habitat.