The songbirds are getting quieter, that’s bad news

Biologists have reconstructed the soundtracks of songbirds in over 200,000 locations in Europe and North America. It shows that birds are becoming quieter, which is not good news, writes biologists Simon Butler and Catriona Morrison of the University of East Anglia.

Suppose you went to hear your favorite orchestral song performed at a world-class venue, and only woodwind and brass players will be shown. Whether we realize it or not, it’s like little noise when we go to our favorite parks or nature reserves. The sounds made in the natural world change. In addition, the benefits of staying in nature may change.

It Awareness grows Spending time in nature is very valuable for human health and well-being. But at the same time, we are experiencing a global environmental crisis, both consistently and widely Biodiversity fall. This means that the quality of our interactions with nature – and its positive effects – is likely to decline.

When all of our senses contribute to the experience of nature, sound is very important: Sounds from nature It has the power to improve our mood, reduce pain and reduce stress. Our study Looks at the long-term loss and changes in biodiversity Habitats of species In response to climate change, nature is changing the sounds of the world.

Audio recordings

Historical records Soundtracks Not easy to find from nature (or audio). So, we had to find a way to rebuild the previous audio shows so that we can analyze how they have changed over time.

For this we used the collected annual bird watching data European On American Bird surveys have been collected from more than 200,000 locations in Europe and North America. The Network of Volunteer Ornithologists conducts it every year in late spring and early summer. It generates a list of data on which species and how many individual birds are counted at each location each year.

We combined the audio recordings of individual species that we could download and translated that data into soundscapes. Via Gino-song, An online database of bird sounds and songs. We always cut sound files to 25 seconds. We inserted an audio file of a specific species for each bird. So, once we have counted five people of a particular race, we have added five 25-second audio files of that race.

By stacking the appropriate number of audio files for each species, we were able to create a soundtrack for each location to reflect how it would sound to the audience during the annual bird survey. you can Ask here for an example To one of us Soundtracks, Reconstructed from data collected at a site in Worcestershire, England in 1998.

After compiling these types of audio visuals for each year and each location, it was possible to measure their properties by phonological analysis. That analysis measures the frequencies of sound energy in any audio and how it is distributed over time, allowing us to measure how acoustic diversity and intensity have changed over the years.

This shows a continuous decline in the phonetic diversity and intensity of sound recordings in Europe and North America over the past 25 years. The soundtrack of our Springs will become quiet and varied. In general, sites with a large decrease in the number of organisms or a total number of calculated individuals show a greater decrease in acoustic diversity and intensity.

To measure how sound energy is distributed across a particular soundscape, we measure the amplitude – the size – of birds’ sounds and compare it to the pitch or tone of a song.

Loss of biodiversity

The ways in which birds structure their communities, the calling and singing characteristics of different creatures complement each other, and are important in determining how phonetic characteristics change.

For example, the loss of such species From வானம்பாடி (Alada Arvensis) Or The Nightingale (Louisiana McGinhos), Singing rich and complex songs will have more impact than losing the complexity of the sound system.On Crow or Seagull. The exact outcome of their loss depends on the number of individuals present and whether there are other species with a similar song.

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As a result of these losses, our results suggest that one of the key components of the relationship between humans and nature has long deteriorated. Nature’s band is rapidly losing both players and instruments.

We will raise awareness of this tragedy by translating the difficult facts about biodiversity loss into concrete pictures and audio recordings. We hope you will support us too Security In the form of preservation and restoration of high quality natural soundtracks: People can access, experience and benefit from nature again.

Simon Butler is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and a senior researcher in Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia.

This article first appeared on IPS Partner Conversation