Brian Pijanowski, Professor at Purdue University in Landscape Ecology, is pioneering the emerging field of Soundscape Ecology, and he's using Wildlife Acoustics SM2 Song Meters to do so. According to Pijanowski, sounds can oftentimes be the first indicators in a host of changes facing a habitat.
Like an acoustic fingerprint, each environment has its very own sonic signature, and that signature is bound to change with changes in its diversity. Using these aural snapshots, scientists are able to see what's happening in a landscape over time. At first glance, it might seem obvious to track the sounds in an environment as a gauge of biodiversity and ecological impact.
“Over increasingly large areas of the United States, Spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song.”
– Rachel Carson, Silent Spring