Spruce Tree Eclipse Anticipation Claim Debunked
A recent opinion paper published in the Cell Press journal Trends in Plant Science has debunked a claim that spruce trees increased electrical activity in anticipation of a partial solar eclipse in Northern Italy.
The original paper, by Chiolerio et al., had suggested that trees showed a synchronized increase in electrical activity approximately 14 hours before the eclipse.
Researchers Ariel Novoplansky et al. argued that a simpler explanation exists for the recorded increase in the trees' electrical activity. They propose that a local thunderstorm with nearby lightning strikes coincided with the observed electrical changes.
Researchers Ariel Novoplansky et al. argued that a simpler explanation exists: a local thunderstorm with nearby lightning strikes coincided with the recorded increase in the trees' electrical activity.
Key points highlighted by Novoplansky et al. in their debunking efforts include:
1. Event Significance
The partial solar eclipse in question reduced light by only about 10.5% for two hours. This interruption was considered less significant than typical cloud cover fluctuations. Novoplansky et al. emphasize that plants typically anticipate events only when they pose a significant challenge and are correlated with strong predictive cues.
2. Anticipation Mechanism
Even if the eclipse was deemed significant, the researchers stated that the trees would not have a reliable mechanism to anticipate it. Each solar eclipse is unique in its path, magnitude, and duration, making past eclipse experiences unhelpful for prediction. Gravitational changes associated with eclipses are similar to those during a new moon, offering no unique predictive signal for an upcoming eclipse.