Sonifying social-ecological change: A wetland laments agricultural transformation

Ecology and Society: a journal of integrative science for resilience and sustainability

MiguelAlvarez-Cobelas,¹  SalvadorSnchez-Carrillo,²  David G Angeler,³ 

[1] University of Nebraska-Lincoln, School of Natural Resources, Lincoln, NE, USA;National Museum of Natural Sciences, MNCN-CSIC, Department of Biogeochemistry and Microbial Ecology, Madrid, Spain;Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Uppsala, Sweden

关键词: agriculture;    climate;    composition;    data sonification;    ecology;    music;    social-ecological change;    time series;    transformation;    wetl;   

DOI  :  10.5751/ES-10055-230220

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Resilience Alliance Publications

【 摘 要 】

Art–science approaches are mounting to increase public literacy about sustainability challenges as planet Earthswiftly moves to an uncertain future. We use data sonification, an approach that allows converting scientific data into music, to document the large-scale transformation of the agricultural sector in central Spain during the 1970s. We converted 71-year time series of inundation area and rainfall data from the freshwater marsh Las Tablas de Daimiel into a soprano and bass voice, respectively. We composed “The Lament of Las Tablas de Daimiel,” which sings the biophysical disruption of the wetland due to the agricultural transformation. More generally, the song testifies to the demise of the natural aquatic environment due to unsustainable use of limited water resources in dryland countries and elsewhere. Making the mute voices of ecosystem heard may have potential to increase awareness about the unsustainable use of short water supplies and other social-ecological challenges. In the age of big data in science, data sonification may be a useful tool to represent and communicate such challenges.

【 授权许可】

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