Bio-electric potentials in superior plants: electric collective behaviour

Abstract

Electrical activity is used by plants in long term signalling and information transfer between the distant parts of the plant. Biopotential recordings from trees in a natural environment have been so far less discussed in scientific literature. Here we present our data about the open science experiment TRee-hUMAn iNterface (TRUMAN) located in Paneveggio forest (Valle di Fiemme, Trento, Italy), cultivated since one thousand years for the production of harmonic wood from Picea abies (red fir). We show that: i) biopotential features based on xylem can be correlated with the solar (and lunar) cycle ii) dead tree logs show an electrical activity that is correlated with that of neighbouring trees iii) statistical features of the spike-like peaks are evidenced, including amplitude, frequency, propagation speed, entropy iv) a quantum field theory is presented to highlight the collective behaviour of the forest, supported by preliminar correlation analyses between electrical signal Kolmogorov entropy and thermographies Shannon entropy.