Under the skin of the ground
where the roots twist
in broken pits of bones,
Sounds are formed –
A silent hum
of the buried relatives of life.
They move unseen
under the green cloak,
while the wind whispers
reach up
kiss the sun.
In the crumbs of ink
A peat song sounds
Through clay veins,
beating with the slow drum
of time and growth.
This soundscape breathes
in fields where trees are recovering
their leafy crowns,
a swollen hum
To measure
What's underneath
Their voices counted,
its traced echoes
Ashore
and grass
and dirt.
This poem is inspired by Recent researchwho has discovered that underground acoustics amplify soil health.
Restoring and monitoring soil biodiversity is becoming increasingly crucial as ecosystems face increasing pressures from human activities and environmental changes. Soil biodiversity plays a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, but is often overlooked. Traditional methods of soil health assessment can be labor intensive and fail to fully capture the complexity of soil life. There is growing interest in finding more efficient and accurate ways to monitor this hidden diversity, particularly across different ecosystem types.
This research explored the use of ecoacoustics (a technique that uses sound to monitor biodiversity) in an Australian grassy forest, a region where these methods had not been previously tested. By analysing ground sounds in areas with different restoration histories, the study found that areas with more established vegetation had higher levels of acoustic complexity and diversity, which correlated with a greater abundance and variety of soil invertebrates. These findings suggest that ecoacoustics may be a valuable tool for monitoring soil biodiversity, not only in temperate forests but also in other ecosystems such as grassy forests. This is important because it offers a promising new method to help protect and restore the planet’s diverse ecosystems.
