soil Ecoacoustics
We look towards ecoacoustics to improve the monitoring of soil fauna, assisting restoration, land management, and policymaking.
Do the sounds of soil offer a new approach to environmental monitoring? Ecoacoustics offers scalable, cost-effective, and non-destructive measurement of biodiversity. We are extending these techniques into soil, where >59% of all Earth’s life resides. Soil soundscapes are influenced by soil fauna activity causing vibrational profiles dependant on soil conditions and community structure. Our research shows that ecoacoustic devices can detect these dynamics in soil habitats and healthier soils have more complex sounds.
Selected papers and projects
Monitoring soil fauna with ecoacoustics (2024)
Sounds of the underground reflect soil biodiversity dynamics across a grassy woodland restoration chronosequence (2024)
The sound of restored soil: using ecoacoustics to measure soil biodiversity in a temperate forest restoration context (2023)
Good vibrations: how listening to the sounds of soil helps us monitor and restore forest health (2023)