Hums in the humus : opportunities and challenges for soil ecoacoustics

Taylor, Alex F and Breed, Martin F and Abrahams, Carlos and Annells, Amy and Bradfer-Lawrence, Tom and Cavagnaro, Timothy and Görres, Carolyn-Monika and Gossner, Martin M and Liddicoat, Craig and Linke, Simon and Metcalf, Oliver C and Roberts, Louise and Sørensen, Louise Vang and Sun, Xin and Timperley, Jonathan H and Robinson, Jake M (2025) Hums in the humus : opportunities and challenges for soil ecoacoustics. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. ISSN 0169-5347 (In Press)

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Abstract

Soil ecoacoustics is an emerging field and suite of tools that use sound and vibration to detect belowground biological activity. It offers a minimally invasive way to assess soil communities and ecosystem processes. Across biomes, we found that soil ecoacoustics is being used to detect organisms, quantify animal behaviour, monitor soil health, and assess restoration interventions. In this review, we show that ecoacoustic metrics reflect changes in soil fauna activity, disturbance impacts, and recovery trajectories. However, major challenges remain, including inconsistent terminology, limited understanding of sound propagation across soil types, difficulty separating biotic from abiotic signals, and a lack of standardised methods. Thus, we propose foundational standard operating procedures (SOPs) and identify how soil ecoacoustics could be integrated into global biodiversity monitoring frameworks.