What if trees could talk?

And, even better, what if we could understand?

In Utah’s Fishlake National Forest, sound artist Jeff Rice has cracked the secret through a recording project that unveils the secret hidden within Pando’s interconnected branches.

Meaning “I spread” in Latin, the 47,000 trees blanketing 107 acres of the national forest are connected through lateral roots, forming an intricate web underground. They all came from one seed that sprouted 9,000 years ago, making the species one of the oldest and largest living organisms on Earth.

The sounds transmitted through the connected roots give an insight into what the organism needs to survive. With Rice’s meticulously recorded audio archives, biologists and scientists can now study the otherwise imperceptible changes in the ecosystem, both above and below the ground.