@article{10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000429, author = {Yovel, Yossi AND Stilz, Peter AND Franz, Matthias O. AND Boonman, Arjan AND Schnitzler, Hans-Ulrich}, journal = {PLOS Computational Biology}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {What a Plant Sounds Like: The Statistics of Vegetation Echoes as Received by Echolocating Bats}, year = {2009}, month = {07}, volume = {5}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pcbi.1000429}, pages = {1-13}, abstract = {Author Summary More than 800 species of bats perceive their surroundings through echolocation. They emit ultrasonic pulses and analyze the information conveyed in the echoes returning from objects in their surroundings. This enables bats to orient in space, to acquire food and to perfectly function in complete darkness. In the absence of light, echoes constitute a major part of the sensory world of bats. Understanding their characteristics can thus help to shed light on the echolocation sensory system. The goal of this work is to study the characteristics of natural plant echoes. Plant echoes are very abundant in the world of the bats and are used by them to find food sources and to navigate. We show that some of the features of the echoes can be explained from the physical properties of the plant they were sampled from (e.g., its leaf size and density). We then analyze the effects of the sensory system on the echoes and suggest that they improve the representation of the echoes in a way that enhances the information that is most reliable for the bats.}, number = {7}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000429} }