How digital technology is bringing us closer to the voices of the natural world

The world around us is full of sounds, some of which we can hear and some that we cannot. However, what if we could learn to listen to the sounds of nature and decode the language of animals and plants?

This is the question explored in the book “The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants” by Karen Bakker. In this article, we will delve into the fascinating world of digital bioacoustics and explore how technology is helping us better understand the sounds of nature.

Digital technology has made it possible to detect and interpret the sounds of species as diverse as honey bees, peacocks, and elephants. Microphones are now so small and portable that they can be installed on animals as small as bees and in areas as remote as underneath Arctic ice.

Meanwhile, artificial intelligence software can help decode the patterns and meaning of recorded sounds. These technologies have opened the door to decoding non-human communication in both animals and plants and understanding the damage that humanity’s noise pollution can wreak.

Karen Bakker is a geographer who studies digital innovation and environmental governance. Her latest book, “The Sounds of Life,” trawls through more than a thousand scientific papers and Indigenous knowledge to explore our emerging understanding of the planet’s soundscape.

In the book, Bakker describes how researchers are constructing dictionaries of animal communication, focusing on elephants, honey bees, whales, and bats. She predicts that within 10 years, we will have the ability to do interactive conversations with these four species.

We are relearning and rediscovering what indigenous communities have long known about the importance of dialogue.

Bakker’s book explores the surprising and complex ways that animals and plants use sound to communicate. For example, we learn that peacocks make infrasound with their tails during the mating dance. While we used to think the big tail was only a visual display, it turns out that they’re also making infrasound at a specific frequency that vibrates the comb on top of the peahen’s head. Bakker’s book also covers species we traditionally think of as silent, such as coral larvae and plants.

While they don’t have ears, they are still able to sense sound and derive ecologically meaningful and relevant information from it.

One experiment conducted by Heidi Appel at the University of Toledo demonstrated how plants can react to the sound of insects chomping on plant leaves. When played the sound of an insect that preys on them, the plants release defensive chemicals.

They only respond to the sound of their specific predator, suggesting that they have an ability to receive information from the environment and use it to adapt and thrive.

Digital bioacoustics has also revealed surprisingly complex communication in animals. Elephants, for example, have a separate warning call for the danger of bees versus the danger of people. And for different tribes, some of which don’t hunt the elephants, they have highly specific descriptions of their environment.

The ability to decode the sounds of nature has many implications for conservation and understanding the impact of human activity on the environment. Noise pollution, for example, can have serious impacts on wildlife.

As soon as you reduce the level of noise, there is an immediate, significant, and persistent benefit.

Even ambient levels of noise pollution that we accept on a daily basis in most cities have been associated with human health risks like cardiovascular risks, cognitive impairment, and developmental delays. Loud motorboat noise can literally deform or kill fish embryos and their eggs.

However, there is hope. As soon as we reduce the level of noise, there is an immediate, significant, and persistent benefit, unlike chemical pollution, which can take decades or centuries to degrade. During the pandemic, birds were immediately responding to the quiet by singing songs with more fulsome vocalization ranges and more complexity.

“The Sounds of Life” is a fascinating exploration of the ways digital technology is revolutionizing our understanding of the natural world. By using advanced tools such as portable microphones and artificial intelligence software, researchers are able to decode the sounds of animals and plants and gain a deeper understanding of their communication and behavior.

Even ambient levels of noise pollution… have been associated with human health risks.

From the intricate mating calls of peacocks to the surprising ability of plants to sense and respond to sound, the book offers a wealth of insights into the complex and diverse ways that life on Earth uses sound. At the same time, the book also highlights the dangers of human-made noise pollution and the urgent need to protect the planet’s fragile soundscape.

Overall, “The Sounds of Life” is a thought-provoking and engaging read that offers a new perspective on the natural world and our place in it.

Key Takeaways

• Digital technology is enabling the decoding of non-human communication.
• Microphones and AI software allow for recording and analyzing the sounds of animals and plants.
• Noise pollution can harm creatures that use sound for communication and navigation.
• Digital tools offer hope for environmental protection and biodiversity conservation.
• Indigenous knowledge and data sovereignty must be considered in bioacoustics research.