What happens when [the animal] orchestra is disrupted by the anthrophony: chain
saws, leaf blowers or highway traffic? If an indiscriminate sound like a
loud motorcycle competes with the stridulation of an insect, the croak
of a frog or the song of a bird, the affected animal may no longer be
able to send its signal to mates or competitors. The voices of creatures
in the choir may be drowned out. And mates and competitors will no
longer be able to hear them. The integrity of the biophony is
compromised...
...If you listen to a damaged soundscape — an expression of infirmity or
extinction — the sense of desolation extends far beyond mere silence.
The community has been altered, and organisms have been destroyed, lost
their habitat or been left to re-establish their places in the spectrum.
As a result, some voices are gone entirely, while others aggressively
compete to establish a new place in the increasingly disjointed chorus.
-- from
The Sound of a Damaged Habitat by Bernie Krause
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