Spruce trees don’t just react to solar eclipses—they anticipate them, synchronizing their bioelectrical signals hours in advance in a display of forest-wide coordination.

This discovery reveals a level of intelligence and communication in trees that rivals animal behavior. Remarkably, older trees lead the charge, hinting at environmental memory being passed down through the forest.

Trees That Predict the Sky

A groundbreaking international study has found that spruce trees not only respond to a solar eclipse but also anticipate it by synchronizing their bioelectrical signals hours in advance, creating a coordinated response across the forest.

Published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the study shows that older trees display a stronger early reaction, suggesting they hold decades of environmental memory and may play a role in signaling younger trees about upcoming events.

These findings add to growing evidence that plants are active, communicative members of their ecosystems, capable of complex and coordinated behaviors similar to those observed in animal groups.

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