Page 48 - Fall 2011

acoustic footprint. Many aircraft routes fall over national parks, adding to the pervasive problem. The specific and long-term consequences of increasing transportation noise in national parks remain unknown, but some of the losses are already apparent. The wild inhabitants are losing active space in which to send and receive communication signals. The parks themselves are losing some of their wilderness charac- ter. Noise can even affect human visitors to the parks, by interfering with speech or sleep and disrupting those who wish to connect with nature. Fristrup ended his talk with hope, saying noise pollution in national parks could be “turned off as soon as we have the will to do so, and the ben- efit will be immediate.” Narins’ presentation, and those that followed, supported the importance of continuing research into animal sounds. The Symposium provided an opportunity for scientists to gather and discuss why the study of acoustic communication by animals is needed not only to assess the effects of noise and contribute to conservation efforts, but also to learn about animal behavior and physiology, study the distribution and movement of animals, and estimate the density or population of some species. Mary Bates is a freelance science writer based out of Boston, MA. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from Brown University, where she studied bat echolocation. Her research has appeared in Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and other journals. Her writing for popular audiences has been published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Harvard's Focus. You can read more of her work at www.marybatessciencewriter.wordpress.com. Co-sponsored Meeting Report 47