Echoes in the Earth

Under the soil-skin
where roots twist
in broken pits of bone,
sounds form –
a quiet hum
of life’s buried kin.
They stir unseen
beneath the green mantle,
while wind-whispers
reach out above
to kiss the sun.
In the inky crumbs
a peat song thrums
through loamy veins,
pulsing with the slow drum
of time and growth.
This soundscape breathes
in fields where trees reclaim
their leafy crowns,
a swelling thrum
to gauge
what lies beneath –
their voices counted,
their echoes traced
in land
and turf
and dirt.

This poem is inspired by recent research, which has found that underground acoustics amplify soil health.

Restoring and monitoring soil biodiversity is becoming increasingly crucial as ecosystems face mounting pressures from human activities and environmental changes. Soil biodiversity plays a fundamental role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, yet it is often overlooked. Traditional methods of assessing soil health can be labour-intensive and may not 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 types of ecosystems.

This research explored the use of ecoacoustics – a technique that uses sound to monitor biodiversity – in an Australian grassy woodland, a region where such methods had not been previously tested. By analysing soil sounds across 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 greater abundance and variety of soil invertebrates. These findings suggest that ecoacoustics can be a valuable tool for monitoring soil biodiversity, not only in temperate forests but also in other ecosystems like grassy woodlands. This is significant because it offers a promising new method to help protect and restore the planet’s diverse ecosystems.