Human contributions to global soundscapes are less predictable than the acoustic rhythms of wildlife
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Journal article
Creator (person)
Somervuo, Panu
Roslin, Tomas
Fisher, Brian L.
Hardwick, Bess
Kerdraon, Deirdre
Raharinjanahary, Dimby
Rajoelison, Eric Tsiriniaina
Lauha, Patrik
Griem, Lukas
Lehikoinen, Petteri
Niittynen, Pekka
Piirainen, Esko
Lumme, Markus
Riihikoski, Ville-Matti
Acevedo-Charry, Orlando
Adalsteinsson, Solny A.
Ahmad, Maaz
Alcobia, Sandra
Aldará, Jón
Andrew, Nigel R.
Anslan, Sten
Antonelli, Alexandre
Arena, Julieta Soledad
Arroyo Almeida, Santiago
Aster, Ines
Autto, Hannu
Aviles Gamboa, Anahi
Baixeras, Joaquín
Baldauf, Mario
Balestrieri, Rosario
Banelyte, Gaia Giedre
Barrett, Adrian
Beja, Pedro
Berg, Thomas Olof
Bergerot, Benjamin
Biro, Elizabeth G.
Blendinger, Pedro G.
Bollache, Loïc
Bou Dagher Kharrat, Magda
Boyer, Stephane
Bridell, Erika
Brotherson, Martyn
Brown, Leslie Robert
Buckley, Hannah L.
Buscardo, Erika
Buthelezi, Nokuphila
Cagnolo, Luciano
Calvente, Alice
Capobianco, Giovanni
Carreón-Palau, Laura
Carriere, Suzanne
Case, Bradley S.
Chang, Jenyu
Chaparro, Juan Matías
Chen, Chi-Ling
Chicoine, Christine
Christensson, Madeleine
Collado Rosique, Francisco
Colom Montero, William
da Fonseca, Ricardo do Sacramento
Da Silva, Luís P.
Dal Molin, Anamaria
Dallas, Tad
de Francesco, Maria Carla
Del Ángel-Rodríguez, Jorge Arturo
Díaz-Delgado, Ricardo
Dirnböck, Thomas
Djukic, Ika
Dladla, Philile
Domínguez Masciale, Jeremías
Dorigo, Thiago
Douwes, Errol
Ekrem, Torbjørn
Enderskog, Helena
Erefur, Charlotta
Fahad, Muhammad
Falahati-Anbaran, Mohsen
Farrell, Arielle
Ferland, Gabriel
Ferrari, Emanuele
Figueiredo, Axa
Forero, Fernando
Freiberga, Inga
Frosch-Radivo, Andrea
Ganchozo Intriago, Luis Alberto
Garzoli, Laura
Giacomotti, Paola
Gianuca, Andros T.
Gilg, Olivier
Gilg, Vladimir
Gísladóttir, Fanney
Glowacki, Ryan
Gottsberger, Brigitte
Gregoire, Jocelyn
Groner, Elli
Guedes, Patrícia
Guile, Aimee Michelle
Haase, Peter
Hadi, Fazal
Haidegger, Magdalena
Hansen, Leivur Janus
Hansen, Lars Holst
Harrop, Reid
Havnås, Harald
Herrera Báez, David
Ho, Chris C. Y.
Hohenbühel, Denise
Houska Tahadlova, Marketa
Hänninen, Jari
Höglund, Linda
Í Haraldsstovu, Kolbrún
Imbeau, Elise
Inkinen, Jasmin
Ishihara, Masae Iwamoto
Jackson, Abigail C.
Jansson, Gunnar
Jha, Rohit
Kager, Gerald
Kahale, Rhea
Kalttopää, Oula
Karai, Elizabeth Wanjiru
Karlsson, Dave
Kaus-Thiel, Andrea
Khan, Asghar
Khan, Qaisar
Kimoto, Keishi
Kipngetich, Shadrack Chumo
Klante, Clemens
Klemedtsson, Leif
Klinth, Mårten
Koskinen, Janne
Kotakorpi, Matti
Kreiling, Agnes-Katharina
Krisai-Greilhuber, Irmgard
Kristensen, Erik
König, Sebastian
Langenheder, Silke
Laurila, Kalevi
Le Gouar, Pascaline
Lecomte, Nicolas
Lecomte, Erin
Leitman, Paula Moraes
León-Cortés, Jorge L.
Li, Daijiang
Loehr, John
Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos
Makari, Mehsen
Mangini, Gabriela Giselle
Maroschek, Michael
Mata, Vanessa A.
Matsuoka, Shunsuke
Mazzafera, Thais
McDonald, Paul G.
Meinert, Laura
Meléndez-González, Mayra
Mendoza-Henao, Angela M.
Moreau, Sebastien
Moreau, Jérôme
Mosbacher, Jesper
Moyer, Esteban
Mrazova, Anna
Mteshane, Samantha
Mungai, Nancy Wangari
Muñoz Herraiz, Gema
Murillo-Vázquez, Andrea
Musazzi, Simona
Mutanen, Marko
Müller, Jörg
Navarro Canales, Rebeca
Ndlovu, Monica
Nicolai, Annegret
Niessner, Armin
Nordén, Jenni
Nowak, Paweł
O’Connell, Erin
Orru, Arianna
Pagnon, Thomas
Pantoja-Diaz, Yurani Nayive
Pentinsaari, Mikko
Pilloni, Sebastian
Pinder, Adrian
Pinheiro, Thiago A.
Põlme, Sergei
Powell, Luke L.
Pröll, Gisela
Pulido-Santacruz, Paola
Queralt, Enrique
Quilantang, Mark Tristan
Quinlan, Kirsty
Ramirez, Ricardo
Rankinen, Juha
Rasino, Micaela Del Valle
Rebelo, Rui
Remmers, Wolfram
Retz, Franziska
Reyes, Evelin
Rivas Torres, Gonzalo
Rogers, Hanna M. K.
Rosário, Inês T.
Rosário Da Rosàrio da Costa, Sidney
Rütting, Tobias
Sahlstén, Johannes
Saliba, Carole
Salmirinne, Teppo
Sam, Katerina
Santos, Douglas
Santos-Reis, Margarida
Sawan, Michel
Schattanek-Wiesmair, Benjamin
Schiestl-Aalto, Pauliina
Schmidt, Niels Martin
Seibold, Sebastian
Seidl, Rupert
Seifert, Linda
Sithole, Malibongwe
Sivault, Elise
Smart, Jessica
Smerczyński, Ireneusz
Soda, Ayaka
Sousa-Lima, Renata S.
Stanisci, Angela
Stanley, Margaret C.
Steenkamp, Daleen
Stengel, Elisa
Stoll, Stefan
Strauss, Willem Maartin
Stur, Elisabeth
Sujala, Maija
Sundell, Janne
Svavarsdóttir, Jónína
Tedersoo, Leho
Tepsa, Saana
Tikochinsky, Maor Tiko
Tuominen, Esa-Pekka
Tweraser, Stefanie
Ulloa Espinosa, Catalina
Uusitalo, Joni
Vallinmäki, Mikko
Vannier, Fabrice
Varela, Abigail
Vatka, Emma
Veikkolainen, Silja
Vernes, Karl
Watts, Phillip C.
Weslien, Per
Wirth, Ciara
Wisniewski, Jana Helga
Young, Amanda B.
Övergaard, Robyn
Ovaskainen, Otso
Date published
July 9, 2025
Abstract
Across the world, human (anthropophonic) sounds add to sounds of biological (biophonic) and geophysical (geophonic) origin, with human contributions including both speech and technophony (sounds of technological devices). To characterize society’s contribution to the global soundscapes, we used passive acoustic recorders at 139 sites across 6 continents, sampling both urban green spaces and nearby pristine sites continuously for 3 years in a paired design. Recordings were characterized by bird species richness and by 14 complementary acoustic indices. By relating each index to seasonal, diurnal, climatic and anthropogenic factors, we show here that latitude, time of day and day of year each predict a substantial proportion of variation in key metrics of biophony—whereas anthropophony (speech and traffic) show less predictable patterns. Compared to pristine sites, the soundscape of urban green spaces is more dominated by technophony and less diverse in terms of acoustic energy across frequencies and time steps, with less instances of quiet. We conclude that the global soundscape is formed from a highly predictable rhythm in biophony, with added noise from geophony and anthropophony. At urban sites, animals experience an increasingly noisy background of sound, which poses challenges to efficient communication.
Journal title
Nature Ecology and Evolution
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
eISSN
2397-334X
Date accepted
June 5, 2025
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