A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Human contributions to global soundscapes are less predictable than the acoustic rhythms of wildlife
Authors: 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; Almeida, Santiago Arroyo; Aster, Ines; Autto, Hannu; Gamboa, Anahi Aviles; 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; Kharrat, Magda Bou Dagher; 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; Rosique, Francisco Collado; Montero, William Colom; Fonseca, Ricardo do Sacramento da; Silva, Luís P. Da; Molin, Anamaria Dal; Dallas, Tad; Francesco, Maria Carla de; Ángel-Rodríguez, Jorge Arturo Del; Díaz-Delgado, Ricardo; Dirnböck, Thomas; Djukic, Ika; Dladla, Philile; Masciale, Jeremías Domínguez; 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; Intriago, Luis Alberto Ganchozo; 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; Báez, David Herrera; Ho, Chris C. Y.; Hohenbühel, Denise; Tahadlova, Marketa Houska; Hänninen, Jari; Höglund, Linda; Haraldsstovu, Kolbrún Í; 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; Gouar, Pascaline Le; 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; Herraiz, Gema Muñoz; Murillo-Vázquez, Andrea; Musazzi, Simona; Mutanen, Marko; Müller, Jörg; Canales, Rebeca Navarro; 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; Torres, Gonzalo Rivas; Rogers, Hanna M. K.; Rosário, Inês T.; Costa, Sidney Rosário Da Rosàrio da; 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
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Nature Ecology and Evolution
Journal name in source: Nature Ecology & Evolution
eISSN: 2397-334X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02786-5
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02786-5
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/499136406
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
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Funding information in the publication:
Open Access funding provided by University of Jyväskylä (JYU)
