The Soundscape Approach for the Assessment and Conservation of Mediterranean Landscapes: Principles and Case Studies

Abstract

The fine-grained mosaic of natural and human-modified patches that characterizes the Mediterranean region has created a multifaceted system that is difficult to investigate using traditional ecological techniques. In this context, sounds have been found to be the optimum model to provide indirect and timely information about the state of ecosystems. The sonic nature of the environment (the soundscape) represents an important component of the landscape, and the new discipline of soundscape ecology has recently been shown to have appropriate tools for investigating the complexity of the environment. In the last decade, technological advances in the acoustic field have led researchers to carry out wide-scale and long-term ecological research using new and efficient tools, such as digital low cost sound recorders, and autonomous software and metrics. Particularly in the Mediterranean region, where land transformation occurs at a very rapid rate, soundscape analysis may represent an efficient tool with which to:1) track transformations in the community balance, 2) indicate the most acoustically complex parts (bioacoustic hotspots) of the land mosaic, 3) prevent environmental degradation, and 4) decide whether protection or restoration actions are most appropriate.Conserving the quality of Mediterranean sounds means preserving the natural dynamics of its animal populations and also involves maintaining the cultural heritage, human identity, and the spiritual values of the area.

Field-based hearing measurements of two seabird species

“…With this amphibious lifestyle, they are likely faced with unique auditory constraints; unfortunately, like many other birds, anthropogenic noise seems to be a stressor. With humans increasingly utilizing many coastal areas, the soundscape of these areas is changing (Farina et al, 2014) and seabirds progressively face acoustic habitat degradation. Impacts include reduced colony and nest attendance associated with times of greater human visitor noise (Buxton et al, 2017) and a somewhat dose (sound level)-dependent influence of aircraft overflight noise, which induces various behaviors, including flying off at higher sound levels (Brown, 1990;Goudie and Jones, 2004).…”

Diurnal variation in freshwater ecoacoustics: Implications for site‐level sampling design

“…To anyone familiar with the dawn chorus of birds, considering diurnal variation in acoustic surveys is intuitive. Ecoacoustic studies on diurnal variation have been conducted in recent years (Farina et al., ), one of them explicitly aimed at optimising sampling regimes (Pieretti et al., ). However, the latter study was only focussed on acoustic indices.…”

“…The second set of techniques evaluates the soundscape, often by calculating acoustic indices instead of quantifying single sound events. These indices are analogous to ecological community metrics, such as richness, diversity, and evenness (Farina, Buscaino, Ceraulo, & Pieretti, 2014;Sueur, Farina, Gasc, Pieretti, & Pavoine, 2014). Soundscape approaches were developed in a terrestrial setting (Pieretti, Farina, & Morri, 2011;Sueur, Pavoine, Hamerlynck, & Duvail, 2008) and have been used to monitor birds (Depraetere et al, 2012;Lellouch, Pavoine, Jiguet, Glotin, & Sueur, 2014) but also marine environments, mainly reefs (Harris, Shears, & Radford, 2016;Kennedy, Holderied, Mair, Guzman, & Simpson, 2010).…”

Acoustic detection and acoustic habitat characterisation of the critically endangered white‐bellied heron (Ardea insignis) in Bhutan

“…However, to achieve this, there is need for non-invasive and scalable approaches to gathering and analysing the data. There is a growing interest in broader soundscape analysis for both species-specific and species community research (Farina, Buscaino, Ceraulo, & Pieretti, 2014;Fuller et al, 2015;Gasc et al, 2013). Acoustic monitoring is proving conducive for vocal yet isolated and cryptic endangered species.…”