Physical non-contact communication between microscopic aquatic species: Novel experimental evidences for an interspecies information exchange

Abstract

Previous experiments on physical non-contact communication within same species gave rise to test for this type of communication also across the species border, which was the aim of the present study. It was found that autotrophic unicellular organisms (Euglena viridis), separated by cuvettes, affected the proliferation rate of heterotrophic unicellular organisms (Paramecium caudatum). Further, the heterotrophic unicellular organism affected also the proliferation rate of a multicellular heterotrophic organism (Rotatoria sp.) and vice versa. In the case when populations (of Euglena viridis and Paramecium caudatum) were shielded against electromagnetic fields in the optical spectrum from each other, no effects were measured. The results may support the notion that the organisation of ecosystems relies also on the exchange of electromagnetic fields from their constituting biosystems.