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Landscape Ecol (2011) 26:12131232 DOI 10.1007/s10980-011-9600-8
RESEARCH ARTICLE
What is soundscape ecology? An introduction and overview of an emerging new science
Bryan C. Pijanowski Almo Farina
Stuart H. Gage Sarah L. Dumyahn
Bernie L. Krause
Received: 7 September 2010 / Accepted: 14 March 2011 / Published online: 1 May 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
Abstract We summarize the foundational elements of a new area of research we call soundscape ecology. The study of sound in landscapes is based on an understanding of how sound, from various sources biological, geophysical and anthropogeniccan be used to understand coupled natural-human dynamics across different spatial and temporal scales. Useful terms, such as soundscapes, biophony, geophony and anthrophony, are introduced and dened. The intellectual foundations of soundscape ecology are describedthose of spatial ecology, bioacoustics, urban environmental acoustics and acoustic ecology. We argue that soundscape ecology differs from the humanities driven focus of acoustic ecology although soundscape ecology will likely need its rich vocabulary and conservation ethic. An integrative
framework is presented that describes how climate, land transformations, biodiversity patterns, timing of life history events and human activities create the dynamic soundscape. We also summarize what is currently known about factors that control temporal soundscape dynamics and variability across spatial gradients. Several different phonic interactions (e.g., how anthrophony affects biophony) are also described. Soundscape ecology tools that will be needed are also discussed along with the several ways in which soundscapes need to be managed. This summary article helps frame the other more application-oriented papers that appear in this special issue.
Keywords Soundscape ecology Landscape
ecology Bioacoustics Soundscape conservation
Acoustic ecology Biophony Geophony
Anthrophony Land use change Climate change
Introduction
Sounds that emanate from the landscape vary spatially and temporally. Forests, grasslands and wetlands support a diverse array of sounds produced by mammals, birds, amphibians, and insects (Marler and Slabberkoorn 2004). The urban landscape is lled with sounds generated by vehicles, sirens, machines and other human-produced sounds (Botteldooren et al.
B. C. Pijanowski (&) S. L. Dumyahn
Laboratory of Human-Environment Modelling and Analysis, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA e-mail: [email protected]
A. FarinaDepartment of Basic Sciences and Fundamentals, Urbino University, 61029 Urbino, Italy
S. H. GageDepartment of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing,...