Bioacoustics and the conservation of ancient woodlands

Mysterious symphonies unfold deep in the arms of old forests wrapped in green emeralds. Not the familiar melody of tree leaves being blown but an embroidery woven from bat whispers, bird trills, and insect pulses. This is how bioacoustics speaks, opening the door to the ancient mysteries of these eternal holy places.

For years, ancient forests have stood guard, their rich history recorded in the rings of towering trees. Despite their apparent stillness, these forests have a story to tell. Within their thick green foliage, a colourful acoustic canvas beats, revealing how sophisticated a living painting can be. Specifically, bioacoustics, the study of animal noises, provides a chance to explore the invisible life in this old world and exposes the ecological status and diversity of its inhabitants.

Picture the dawn in a vast beech wood. Blackbirds call with territorial notes, their melodies intermingling with those of chaffinches, which, in turn, call on cuckoos with haunting voices. Every sound tells a story: a robin's fight to guard its territory, a finch searching for its better half, and a cuckoo stealing an egg from another bird. These storylines can be extracted using bioacoustics, enabling us to comprehend the intricate interplays that dictate a woodland's ecology.

Apart from its ecological orientation, bioacoustics serves as a robust tool for conservation. Changes in the sonic landscape act as an early warning system for the decline of species or invasive pests. Additionally, they indicate the degradation of these sensitive ecosystems by human activities. A missing warbler's chirp or a strange hum may provide a heads-up, signalling the need for swift action to protect these unique environments that cannot be replaced or duplicated.

To illustrate an example of an old forest, consider the New Forest in England. Beech and gnarled oaks form a magnificent canopy, and bluebells enhance the rich beauty of the forest floor below. The sight of the New Forest is stunning and delightful to hear. Chaffinch, the wail of a cuckoo, and the chorusing blackbird, calling in tones of territoriality, mingle their music. The symphony comprises all sounds that each tell their own stories: the robin's territorial fights, the male finches' search for mates, and the cuckoos' audacious egg thievery. 

Consequently, the bioacoustic of old woodlands in the New Forest serves as an example of the complex connections that govern this world.
In the remaining woodlands, sound and time are preserved by bioacoustics. Tree rings tell stories of times past, and bioacoustics unlocks the mysteries of a living orchestra. To fully explore the rich aural environment of that ancient forest, which includes birds chirping, trees crashing, snakes hissing, and honey bees humming.

Bioacoustics is key to understanding the melodies of songbirds in the heart of ancient woodlands. The sounds made by avians add a new dimension to the woods' song, an acoustic snapshot of the forest's state of life, death, and transition. Using bioacoustics, researchers can determine various species of birds and even specific individual birds in these ancient kingdoms; this could be a noninvasive means for monitoring and comprehending avian populations.

Bioacoustics is the orchestra leader for the Grand Symphony of the Ancient Woodlands. The unique pattern reflecting the strength of these ancient environments is created by the interconnected echoes of insects tapping, birds trilling, and bats whispering. Bioacoustics goes beyond animal communication to conservation. The acoustic signature of a pristine old-growth forest becomes an expression of ecological equilibrium developed over millennia.

Bioacoustics acts as a silent assistant as ancient woods become endangered due to fragmented habitats and climate change. By paying close attention to the intricate sounds in such environments, conservationists can perceive the conditions of plants and animals. The symphony becomes an instrument of prediction, indicating where something is amiss and calling for selective conservation.

Ancient woodlands are built upon a balance between many different species working in harmony, showing great resistance to disturbance. For example, some bird species could indicate a well-balanced insect population, preventing the overgrowth of a particular species. Recording the acoustic symphony surrounding them permits conservationists to coax old forests into balance.

Yet, bioacoustics is more than a simple tool. Bioacoustics connects us with the primal rhythm pulsating throughout ancient forests. We can't merely pay a visit to those old jungles; if we could breathe in their throb of life rather than merely seeing them sight unseen, that would be fine by us—and it would mean everything, too. It means being alive.

AudioMoths, for instance, is an eco-friendly acoustic monitoring device introduced in late 2017 by a British research group called Open Acoustic Devices. Compared to other passive acoustic monitoring devices on the market today, AudioMoth is more energy-efficient, allowing for greater accessibility and durability in the field with less power. Anything from extremely high-frequency bat vocalizations, well beyond the range of human hearing, to extremely low-frequency gunshots can be recorded by the AudioMoth.

Imagine a scenario where the voices in the woods are no longer an enigma. Envision children growing up learning the dialect of bird songs and societies functioning in union with nature's rhythm. Therefore, bioacoustics is one way towards this future, and it will be the soundtrack on our journey because we are not mere visitors this time around but fully part of life's magnificent symphony.

Anushka Haque is a grade 12 student at the Canadian International Institute, Dhaka.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.