Spring becomes more and more silent. The study conducted by several European institutions coordinated by the British University of East Anglia in Norwich and published in the journal Nature Communications indicates that the soundscape made up of birdsong is becoming impoverished both in North America and in Europe as a consequence of the reduction and the number animals and their diversity.
By matching data on bird numbers with recordings of their song, the research reconstructed the change in the spring soundscape over the past 25 years in more than 200,000 locations on both sides of the Atlantic, none of them in Italy.
'Natural soundscapes are under increasing pressure due to global biodiversity loss, and our results reveal a chronic deterioration in their quality,' the researchers write. "These changes - they add - suggest that natural soundscapes, on the whole, have become both more homogeneous and quieter".
The problem, note the authors of the research, does not only concern birds and biodiversity, but also man. More than half of the world population now lives in cities and the urban lifestyle is reducing the opportunities for direct contact with the natural environment, for adults as well as children, for whom the opportunities for outdoor play are gradually becoming shrinking. "This so-called extinction of experience is leading to a growing disconnect between man and nature, with negative impacts on physical health, cognitive abilities and psychological well-being," the researchers write.
In many places, the song of birds has remained the only feeble contact with the natural environment, which however is getting thinner and thinner.
"It is expected that the progressive decline in bird populations will cause a further reduction in the quality of the soundscape and, consequently, a continuous dilution of the experience of contact with nature," the scientists conclude.
