Sounds like an idea for wildlife

The health of woodland is to be monitored using sound recordings of its wildlife.

The groundbreaking study at a Highland biodiversity hotspot will track the state of wildlife in more ways than one.

An innovative study of soundscapes at Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate near Loch Ness aims to reveal new findings about woodland health and the richness of wildlife at the 10,000-acre site.

Composer and audio specialist Huw McGregor has carried out an initial investigation for his Woodland Soundscape Project, using purposebuilt recording equipment to monitor forest sounds.

He hopes to develop a new way of measuring biodiversity at Dundreggan, by providing fresh data on the diversity and populations of species, and also to inspire people

“People have long enjoyed forest sounds”

to visit and enjoy woodlands.

“People have long enjoyed forest sounds, but using modern technology to study the soundscapes of these precious habitats offers a new way of better understanding their development over time, and the diversity and behaviour of their wildlife,” he said.

Dundreggan has been described as a “lost world” where more than 3,000 species have been discovered, including 10 found nowhere else in the UK and others that are extremely rare.

Mr McGregor’s initial recordings include the dawn and dusk choruses. Such recordings can be used to study bird population numbers and the range of species, as well as how species use different spaces to alter their songs or how sounds such as waterfalls, roads and human activity affect their behaviour.