Marine Plants and Sound

Plants have been considered passive, static, and immutable organisms for a long time, but research shows that plants can perceive their environment and respond to stimuli by modifying their growth and development. Plants communicate with each other and with the world around them. This communication has been explained through the contact between mycorrhizae and volatile organic compounds, but recently, plant acoustic perception and communication have become a new line of research. The sounds produced by plants would contain information with ecological implications, which could be used in the management of crop fields or in the prevention of biodiversity loss. In addition, anthropogenic noise inflicts ultrastructural damage on various tissues of marine plants that could have implications at ecosystems level and in the planet’s biodiversity in general. This chapter provides an overview of the plants bioacoustics and aims to underline the need to develop criteria to assess the impact of sound on marine plants. Understanding how the intricate communication networks between the roots supplies vital information for individuals in marine ecosystems, the possible capacity to warn their peers of dangers and the root role on the sensory and communication capacities could be new research lines in marine plant bioacoustics.