Beyond the Audible

Our focus on airborne sounds in both natural and urban environments has contributed to the development of ecoacoustics. However, alongside audible soundscapes that we have become accustomed to recording and analysing, there exists another, less obvious layer: the world of substrate-borne vibrations – the so-called vibroscape.

These vibrations, which are not directly perceptible to human senses, are crucial for many animals, especially insects. While humans may attune themselves to soundscapes, many animals are equally attuned to vibroscapes. This ancient system of communication shaped early evolutionary interactions and may still be accessible to us, even if we cannot clearly determine to what extent.

In this performative lecture, the authors introduce ecotremology – a discipline that studies substrate-borne vibrations in order to reveal ecological processes and their potential contribution to conservation biology. The lecture also includes listening to recordings of various Slovenian vibroscapes produced as part of their research.