What is Soundscape?

Soundscape is all the acoustic elements of an environment at any given moment. Within a soundscape there are three main categories of sound sources: biophony, geophony, and anthrophony. Biophony is the collective sound that living organisms produce (i.e. a wolf howling, a cat meowing, or a bird singing). Geophony is sound originating from a natural non-biological source (i.e. the sound of wind, a waterfall, or a volcanic activity). Anthrophony is human-generated sound (i.e. car horn, airplane engine, or music). Acoustic Ecology is the study of soundscape. It investigates natural and anthropogenic sounds and their relationship within the environment.   

Why is sound important?

Many lightless environments can be found around the world in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, in these lightless environments, there is still the presence of sound. In fact, on earth, there is no naturally occurring soundless environment. There are many cavernicolous and subterranean animals that have lost eyesight through evolution but there is no known naturally deaf vertebrate found on earth. Sound is a significant sensory cue and carries vital information for survival; it is used for hunting, predator avoidance, territory defense, communication, habitat quality assessment, and mate selection.

Scientists can use sound to asses the health of an ecosystem. Through acoustic monitoring, ecologists and biologists can estimate number of species present, trophic interactions, introduction of invasive species, seasonal and weather patterns, plant diversity, and levels of environmental disturbance. While a habitat may visually appear the same, it's soundscape can tell us the unseen story of habitat degradation. Sound is also a tool for measuring the success of environmental conservation initiatives such as the removal of an invasive species or the restoration of biodiversity.

Why should we care?

Today, there is growing concern over the effects of noise pollution - anthropogenic sounds that impair transmission of natural sounds - on natural environments. Through scientific studies we’ve discovered that noise pollution can inhibit predator avoidance, disturb breeding success, and affect community structures of terrestrial and marine animals. These have costly impacts on health and survival of wildlife! 

 Not only does sound alter the ecosystem in ways that we are just beginning to understand, it also has a substantial impact on human health. Noise pollution can lead to hearing loss, stress, sleep disorders, decreased attention, cardiovascular diseases, and strokes. Alternately, natural soundscapes increase cognitive abilities, reduce the chance of cardiovascular disease and strokes, and enhance stress recovery at a significantly high rate. This is important to note during a time when studies indicate the average stress levels among people are rising.

Due to sound’s value in human health, natural soundscapes may provide the deep emotional connections and meaningful interactions with nature that are needed to foster environmental stewardship. As biologists Andrew Balmford and Richard Cowling stated, “Conservation as a whole is losing the war, not because of any lack of commitment or focus but because of the sheer scale, growth, and complexity of the problems it faces.” To address the rapid change and complexity within our society, conservationists cannot rely solely on the traditional means of community outreach. The proverbial toolbox must grow to incorporate new tools and new technologies, lest conservation becomes outdated. Listening To Earth’s Soundscape Library and Soundscape Candle collection is an intimate, versatile, and contemporary way of reaching out, captivating the senses, and inspiring action. 

References

Annerstedt, M., Jonsson, P., Wallergard, M. Johansson, G., Karlson, B., Grahn, P., Hansen, A. M., Wahrborg, P. (2013). Inducing physiological stress recovery with sounds of nature in a virtual reality forest results from a pilot study. Physiology & Behavior, 118; 240-250. 

Babisch, W., Beule, B., Schust, M, Kersten, N., and Ising, H. (2005) Traffic noise and the risk of myocardial infarction. Epidemiology, 16, 33-40.

Balmford, A. & Cowling, R.M. (2006). Fusion or failure? The future of conservation biology. Conservation Biology, 20, 692-695.

Barber, J., Fristrup, K., Brown, C.,  Hardy, A., Angeloni, L., and Crooks, K. (2010). Conserving the wildlife therein protecting park fauna from anthropogenic noise. Park Science, 26 (3).   

Farina, A., and Stuart, H.G. (2017). Ecoacoustics: The Ecological Role of Sounds. (1st ed.). John Wiley and Sons. 

Fisher, J. (1998). What the Hills Are Alive with: In Defense of the Sounds of Nature. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 56 (2); 167-179.

Ghezeljeha, T. N., Nasari, M., Haghani, H., Loieh, H. R. (2017). The effect of nature sounds on physiological indicators among patients in the cardiac care unit. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 29; 147-152

Kern, J., Redford, A. (2016). Anthropogenic noise disrupts use of vocal information about predation risk. Environmental Pollution, 218; 988-995.

Ketten, D. R. (2004). Marine Mammal Auditory Systems: A Summary of Audiometric and Anatomical Data and Implications for Underwater Acoustic Impacts , Polarforschung, Bremerhaven, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research & German Society of Polar Research, 72 (2/3), pp. 79-92 .

Krause, B. (2016). Wild Soundscapes: discovering the voice of the natural world. (2nd ed.). Yale University Press. 

Ladle, R., Correia, R., Do, Y., Jae Joo, G., Malhado, A., Proulx, R., Roberge, J. (2016). Conservation Culturomics. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14 (5); 269-275.

Medvedev, O., Shepherd, D., Hautus, M. (2015). The restorative potential of soundscapes: A physiological investigation. Applied Acoustics, 96; 20-26. 

Slabbekoorn, H. (2017). Anthropogenic Noise: Impacts on Animals. Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, 82-88.

Spigaa, L., Aldreda, N., Caldwella, G. (2017). Anthropogenic noise compromises the anti-predator behaviour of the European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 122 (1-2); 297-305

Watts, G. R., Pheasant, R. J. (2015). Tranquillity in the Scottish Highlands and Dartmoor National Park – The importance of soundscapes and emotional factors. Applied Acoustics, 89; 297-305.