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New scientific field will study ecological importance of sounds
Purdue University ^ | March 1, 2011 | Brian Wallheimer

Posted on 03/01/2011 2:41:13 PM PST by decimon

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University researcher is leading an effort to create a new scientific field that will use sound as a way to understand the ecological characteristics of a landscape and to reconnect people with the importance of natural sounds.

Soundscape ecology, as it's being called, will focus on what sounds can tell people about an area. Bryan Pijanowski, an associate professor of forestry and natural resources and lead author of a paper outlining the field in the journal BioScience, said natural sound could be used like a canary in a coal mine. Sound could be a critical first indicator of environmental changes.

Pijanowski said sound could be used to detect early changes in climate, weather patterns, the presence of pollution or other alterations to a landscape.

"The dawn and dusk choruses of birds are very characteristic of a location. If the intensity or patterns of these choruses change, there is likely something causing that change," Pijanowski said. "Ecologists have ignored how sound that emanates from an area can help determine what's happening to the ecosystem."

(Excerpt) Read more at purdue.edu ...


TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: climate; ecology; sound; yourtaxdollars

1 posted on 03/01/2011 2:41:14 PM PST by decimon
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To: steelyourfaith

A coo sticks ping.


2 posted on 03/01/2011 2:41:55 PM PST by decimon
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To: decimon
ecological characteristics of a landscape and to reconnect people with the importance of natural sounds

uh-boy, how much is this gonna cost me?

3 posted on 03/01/2011 2:47:18 PM PST by NativeSon
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To: decimon

Oh, sh*t. They’re going to start regulating sound emissions.


4 posted on 03/01/2011 2:49:08 PM PST by MeganC (Soli Deo Gloria)
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To: decimon

I can see an individual studying sound patterns, etc. but a field of study??


5 posted on 03/01/2011 2:49:54 PM PST by JimSEA
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To: decimon

Throw food out the window at the seashore...The gulls will squawk their heads off and dive to kill....hundreds of them.


6 posted on 03/01/2011 2:50:30 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: decimon

Throw food out the window at the seashore...The gulls will squawk their heads off and dive to kill....hundreds of them.


7 posted on 03/01/2011 2:50:44 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: decimon

Throw food out the window at the seashore...The gulls will squawk their heads off and dive to kill....hundreds of them.


8 posted on 03/01/2011 2:50:47 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: decimon

Nuts are surfacing at an alarming rate.
Quick! Create Czar and biiiilion stimulus fund!!!


9 posted on 03/01/2011 2:50:46 PM PST by Leo Carpathian (fffffFRrrreeeeepppeeee-ssed!)
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To: decimon

Throw food out the window at the seashore...The gulls will squawk their heads off and dive to kill....hundreds of them.


10 posted on 03/01/2011 2:50:54 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: decimon

I agree. We need less noise. These people should shut up.


11 posted on 03/01/2011 2:51:26 PM PST by Rocky (REPEAL IT!)
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To: decimon

Be the first in your neighborhood to be part of this new scientific field! Imagine how impressed your friends will be when you tell them you’re a “Soundscape Ecologist”!


12 posted on 03/01/2011 2:53:19 PM PST by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: decimon
"will focus on what sounds can tell people about an area."

That buzzing sound you hear, means you're standing too close to that rattlesnake.

13 posted on 03/01/2011 2:56:47 PM PST by Deaf Smith
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To: decimon

“...sound could be used to detect early changes in climate, weather patterns, the presence of pollution or other alterations to a landscape”

In other words, ‘proof’ of the effects of global warming. Bet the stimulus money is behind this. Open up depts of so-called science with stimulus money in order to prove and facilitate your agenda, IMHO.


14 posted on 03/01/2011 3:02:12 PM PST by Beowulf9
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To: decimon

Sounds like trouble on the horizon for wind farms!


15 posted on 03/01/2011 3:08:47 PM PST by sonofagun (Some think my cynicism grows with age. I like to think of it as wisdom!)
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To: decimon
"A coo sticks ping."

LOL. That's punny too ! Luv it. Thanx !

16 posted on 03/01/2011 3:13:50 PM PST by steelyourfaith ("Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." -- Wendell Phillips)
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