Can You Hear It? Soundscapes and Biodiversity of Yucatán

This project is the culmination of our learning in Yucatán: Conservation, Culture, and Environmental Sustainability class, analyzing audio field data from our 2026 spring break trip to the Yucatán Peninsula in México. Starting with an introduction to the field of soundscape ecology, our ArcGIS story map explains the value of acoustic indices—quantitative summaries of the distribution of sound energy in audio recordings—as proxies for biodiversity, which is both abundant and threatened in the region. We compare acoustic indices to remote sensing data to evaluate this connection between sound and landscape characteristics, ultimately suggesting that further rigorous studies into acoustic indices may yield meaningful information about protecting biological communities from excessive human disturbances.