In a race against time, scientists are exploring new ways to restore natural systems. Alongside traditional methods such as planting trees, reducing pollution and reintroducing native species, a surprising new tool is emerging: sound. Ecologists can harness sound to bring life back to degraded ecosystems.

On land and at sea, natural soundscapes are being replicated to stimulate growth, reproduction and even communication among species. Sound is already being used to restore oyster beds and coral reefs.

In our new research, we found beneficial plant microbes are also receptive to sound. We used high-frequency white noise to stimulate a fungus that promotes plant growth. The noise is a bit like the sound emitted in between channels of an old-fashioned radio.

This adds a new dimension to restoration projects. Imagine using tailored soundscapes to restore wetlands, forests or grasslands, simply by artificially amplifying the sonic cues that attract wildlife, stimulate growth and rebuild relationships between species. We see a bright future for this “biodiversity jukebox,” with tracks for every ecosystem.

Sound as an ecological tool

In healthy ecosystems, everything from animal calls to water trickling underground creates a sonic landscape or “soundscape” that ultimately supports biodiversity.

Conversely, the soundscapes in degraded ecosystems are often diminished or altered. This can change the way species behave and ecosystems function.

Marine biologists were among the first to explore sound as a tool for restoring Australia’s southern oyster reefs. Intact oyster reefs provide habitat for many species and prevent shoreline erosion. But pollution, overharvesting and dredging almost wiped them out more than a century ago.

It turns out playing sounds of healthy reefs, namely snapping shrimp, underwater encourages baby oysters to settle and grow. These sounds mimic the natural environment of thriving oyster beds.

The results have been impressive. Oyster populations show signs of recovery in areas where soundscapes have been artificially restored.

Similarly, fish support healthy coral reefs by grazing on algae that can otherwise smother corals. Playing the sounds of healthy coral reefs can attract young fish to degraded reefs. This helps kickstart reef recovery.

The power of sound in plant microbiology

Building on these successes, we ventured into new territory. In our new research we used sound to stimulate the growth of soil microbes.

These microbes play an essential role in plant health. Some promote nutrient uptake in plants, others protect against disease. But these communities of microorganisms can be diminished and disrupted in degraded soils, hampering plant growth and ecosystem recovery.

We wanted to find out whether specific sounds could encourage the growth of these beneficial microbes. We ran a series of experiments, to test the effect of sound on the growth and reproduction rate of a particular fungus known to stimulate plant growth and protect against diseases.

We grew the fungus in the laboratory in 40 Petri dishes and subjected half of them to treatment with sound. We played a sound recording similar to the high-frequency buzz of white noise for 30 minutes a day over five days. Then we compared the amount of fungal growth and the number of spores between the two groups.

In technical terms, the frequency was 8 kHz and level was 80 dB, which is quite loud, like the sound of a busy city street or vacuum cleaner, almost loud enough to damage hearing.

We used a monotonous sound for experimental reasons, because it is easy to control. But a more natural or diverse soundscape may be even better. We plan to do more research on this in the near future.

We found sound stimulated the fungi, increasing the growth rate by more than seven times and the production of spores by more than four times compared to the control (no sound).

Why sound works

Why does sound have such a powerful effect on ecosystems? The answer lies in the way organisms interact with their environment.

Sound travels almost five times faster in water than in air, making it an efficient means of communication for marine life such as oysters, fish and whales.

Trees detect the soundwaves produced by running water, and their roots move towards the vibration.

We already know sound influences the activity of microbes. We think it stimulates special receptors on the membranes of the microbes. These receptors might trigger a response in the cells, such as switching genes responsible for growth on or off.

Is sound the future of restoration?

Microbes support plant life, help maintain soil structure, hold water and store carbon. By stimulating beneficial microbes with sound, we may be able to improve large-scale restoration projects. This approach may also support regenerative agriculture, where farming works with nature rather than against it.

Our next steps include refining the sound patterns that are most effective in different ecosystems. We then need to scale up our research to test different sounds in diverse environments. We envisage creating a “biodiversity jukebox” of beneficial sounds to enhance ecosystem health.

It’s clear what we hear—and don’t hear—profoundly influences the environment. So we’re also interested in noise cancellation. By this, we mean barriers to protect ecosystems from potentially undesirable noises. For instance, we’re asking questions such as: do traffic and industrial noises harm the ecosystem?

As ecosystems face increasing pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss and habitat destruction, sound can become a powerful tool for restoration.

While the science is still in its infancy, it has huge potential.

Ultimately, sound-based restoration might offer a low-impact and cost-effective approach to help ecosystems recover. The future of restoration could be as much about what we hear as what we see.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Scientists have developed a new method to simulate the complex movements of animals with exceptional accuracy. The research team set out to solve a long-standing challenge in biology—how to accurately model the intricate and seemingly unpredictable movements of living organisms. They focused on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, a model organism widely used in biological research.

The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, help predict and understand animal behavior, with potential applications ranging from robotics to medical research.

“Unlike simple physical systems like a pendulum or a bead on a spring, animal behavior exists in a space between regular and random actions. Capturing that delicate balance is very tricky and that’s what makes our model unique—no one has ever presented a model of an animal this lifelike before,” explained Prof. Greg Stephens, leader of the Biological Physics Theory Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST).

“An animal’s actions are influenced by many factors, including its internal state, environmental experiences, developmental history, and genetic inheritance. Expressing these influences in a simple, predictive model is remarkable and somewhat counterintuitive. This complexity, and our ability to model it effectively, is noteworthy,” explained Dr. Antonio Costa, lead author at the Paris Brain Institute at Sorbonne University.

Creating the model was a complex process involving several steps. The team started by recording high-resolution videos of worm movements. They used machine learning techniques to identify the worm’s shape in every video frame. They then analyzed how these shapes changed over time, to obtain a deeper understanding of worm behavior. Finally, they determined how much past data was needed to make reliable predictions.

“We compared statistical properties of real animal behavior, such as movement speed and frequency of behavioral changes, with those generated by our simulations,” Dr. Costa added. “The close match between these data sets demonstrates the high accuracy of our model.”

Implications for medicine and robotics

The implications of this research extend far beyond the study of worms. The team is already communicating with companies who use this nematode worm to test the effect of chemical compounds on behavior. They are also applying the model to other species, including zebrafish larvae, which are frequently used in drug discovery research. Additionally, the researchers are exploring applications in human medicine, particularly in the study of movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease.

The potential impact on medical research is significant. Current diagnostic methods for movement disorders often rely on subjective observations made during brief clinical visits. These changes might be too subtle for direct observation, which is part of what makes diagnosing these medical conditions challenging. This new approach could provide more continuous, objective measurements of patient movements, even in home settings, leading to more precise diagnoses and personalized treatment strategies.

Beyond medicine, the model could have applications in fields such as robotics, where achieving natural-looking movement has been a persistent challenge. By better understanding how animals navigate their environments, engineers may be able to design more adaptable and efficient robotic systems.

As the team continues to refine and expand their modeling techniques, they anticipate that this approach will open new avenues for understanding the intricate relationships between environmental factors, genetics, and behavior across a wide range of species.

New research from Baylor University reveals that coyotes, like domestic dogs, have the ability to produce the famous “puppy dog eyes” expression. The study—”Coyotes can do ‘puppy dog eyes’ too: Comparing interspecific variation in Canis facial expression muscles,” published in the Royal Society Open Science—challenges the hypothesis that this facial feature evolved exclusively in dogs as a result of domestication.

The research team, led by Patrick Cunningham, a Ph.D. research student in the Department of Biology at Baylor University, examined the levator anguli oculi medialis (LAOM), the muscle responsible for raising the inner eyebrow to create “puppy dog eyes,” in coyotes.

Contrary to previous assumptions, Cunningham and colleagues discovered that coyotes also possess a well-developed LAOM, similar to dogs. This finding contradicts the idea that the muscle evolved specifically for communication between humans and dogs during domestication.

“Our findings suggest that the ability to produce ‘puppy dog eyes’ is not a unique product of dog domestication but rather an ancestral trait shared by multiple species in the Canis genus,” Cunningham said. “This raises fascinating questions about the role of facial expressions in communication and survival among wild canids.”

Coyotes, dogs and gray wolves comparisons

Cunningham and his team compared the facial muscles of coyotes, dogs and gray wolves. While both dogs and coyotes possess a well-developed LAOM, the muscle is either modified or absent in gray wolves. This challenges the hypothesis that human-driven selection was solely responsible for the development of the inner brow raiser in dogs.

Instead, the study suggests that the LAOM was likely present in a common ancestor of dogs, coyotes and gray wolves but was later lost or reduced in wolves.

The research also documented significant intraspecific variation in the facial muscles of coyotes, particularly those related to brow and lip movements. Genetic analysis was used to rule out significant dog ancestry in the coyote specimens, reinforcing that these traits are not a result of crossbreeding.

“Our work reveals that coyotes and dogs share not just behavioral similarities, but also a fascinating evolutionary history that includes the ability to make expressions that we once thought were unique to domesticated animals,” Cunningham said.

This discovery has broader implications for understanding the evolution of facial expressions in mammals. The LAOM may have originally evolved for functions related to vision and eye movements, rather than communication with humans, as previously thought.

Future studies on other canid species, including red wolves and African wild dogs, may further illuminate the role of facial expressions in survival and species communication.