Healthy soil is full of sound

Recently published research shows that listening to the sounds of our soil can help determine how healthy it is. Researchers at Flinders University in Australia found that a the range and complexity of sounds in soils in Southern Australian grasslands were much higher in plots with vegetation than those that had been cleared, and where more organisms were living in the soil. They used ecoacoustic surveying - which detects the acoustic signals emitted by soil organisms which can then be analysed to determine the range and diversity of life in the soil. Dr Jake Robinson of Flinders University said “All living organisms produce sounds, and our preliminary results suggest different soil organisms make different sound profiles depending on their activity, shape, appendages and size. This technology holds promise in addressing the global need for more effective soil biodiversity monitoring methods to protect our planet’s most diverse ecosystems.”