Bioacoustic contributions to the soundscape

Abstract

The soundscape, the combination of all sounds found in the environment, has been divided into three components: geophony—sounds that are generated by non-biological sources such as wind and waves; biophony—sound generated by animals, excepting humans; and anthrophony—sound generated by human activities. The soundscape can be further divided by spatial, temporal, and frequency band variations. Spatial variations occur both owing to proximity to various sound sources and to the sound propagation environment. Temporal variations occur on seasonal, lunar, daily, and other cycles. Use of different frequency bands may be a response to spatial and temporal overlap of sounds. In this session, we consider biological components of the soundscape and how sounds produced by animals interact with each other and with non-biological and anthropogenic sounds. We suggest that studies using long-term passive acoustic monitoring may take a more holistic approach to analysis using the concept of soundscape. This approach emphasizes the connections and relations between sound events, rather than focusing on the extraction of individual sound events. The session draws on data collected both in terrestrial and marine settings to illustrate how the soundscape concept can be applied to better understand animal use of sound.