Biophony is unique to each place; nowhere in nature sounds exactly like anywhere else....
Many animals ... have evolved to squeeze their vocalizations into available niches of the soundscape in order to be heard by others of their kind.
Evolution isn't just about the competition for space or food but also for bandwidth. If a species cannot find a sonic niche of its own, it will not survive.
The ideas of Bernie Kraus, recounted by Jeff Hull in The Noises of Nature in today's New York Times Magazine.
Krause was an early master of the Moog synthesizer and worked with the Doors, Van Morrison and Mick Jagger during the '60s. He went back to school to study bioacoustics in the '80s and has been recording soundscapes ever since.
The article goes on to say that: "Unfortunately, just as Krause and his scientific progeny have begun investigating the possibility that an ecosystem's sounds are a key aspect of its health, they're witnessing those sounds' demise. ... Nearly a third of the ecosystems he has captured have become aurally 'extinct' because of habitat loss or the presence of noise-making machines."
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