Loss of natural soundscapes within the Americas

Abstract

Species specific calls within an ecosystem evolve to adjust to the physical acoustic constraints of that ecosystem as well as the constraints imposed by the spectal content of the calls of other species occupying that ecosystem. The result is a rich texture of sound spread over both the audible (human) and inaudible spectrum with changing patterns at different times of the day. Based on 30 years of experience in recording natural soundscapes, the author documents the loss of natural soundscapes within the U.S. and other countries of the Americas. The results are demonstrated with field recordings.