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Soundscapes shift in Glacier National Park
The park is phasing out commercial air tours
The soundscapes of national parks are changing, and those changes could affect how wildlife species communicate, find food and move about on the landscape. In new research being presented at the annual meeting of The Geological Society of America, Whitney Wyche, a Mosaics in Science Diversity intern, discusses how the soundscape of Glacier National Park has changed since 2004.
At that time, aircraft noise posed a growing concern—particularly scenic helicopter rides. A 2019 study found the noise had remained about the same.
Since then, new restrictions have reduced the aircraft noise, but increased park visitation has brought other changes to the soundscape.
The park plans to phase out commercial air tours by the end of 2029.
“Monitoring how Glacier National Park’s soundscape has changed will help inform park management on what threats to the natural soundscape need to be mitigated,” Wyche said.
Header Image: Mosaics in Science intern Whitney Wyche setting up acoustic monitoring equipment in Glacier National Park. Credit: Courtesy Whitney Wyche
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