Soundscapes to Monitor Habitat Development on Restored Cranberry Farmland

During the first week of October, we returned to Eel River, Tidmarsh, and Foothills to retrieve our acoustic recorders. After years of losing devices to vandalism and weather, it was a relief to find every single one intact. Now the fun begins: processing over 1,230 hours of sound to explore the ecological complexity of these recovering wetland landscapes.

On May 3, we got our waders on and headed to the bogs. Students at Clark University spent the semester learning about soundscapes, how they are used to monitor habitat health, and how to process sound data to extract information about landscape acoustic complexity. The final stage was learning how to deploy the sensors, and what better way to do that than spending a day walking through nature at the Living Observatory sites of Eel River, Tidmarsh, and Foothills?

Fall is starting. The days are becoming shorter, mornings crisp, and soundscapes quieter. The Fall semester is the best time to plan for the Spring acoustic sampling season.