  Assessing the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on wildlife is a
necessary conservation task. The soundscape is a critical habitat component for
acoustically communicating organisms, but the use of the soundscape as a tool
for assessing disturbance impacts has been relatively unexplored until
recently. Here we present a broad modeling framework for assessing disturbance
impacts on soundscapes, which we apply to quantify the influence of a
shelterwood logging on soundscapes in northern Michigan. Our modeling approach
can be broadly applied to assess anthropogenic disturbance impacts on
soundscapes. The approach accommodates inherent differences in control and
treatment sites to improve inference about treatment effects, while also
accounting for extraneous variables (e.g., rain) that influence acoustic
indices.
  Recordings were obtained at 13 sites before and after a shelterwood logging.
Four sites were in the logging region and nine sites served as control
recordings outside the logging region. We quantify the soundscapes using common
acoustic indices (Normalized Difference Soundscape Index (NDSI), Acoustic
Entropy (H), Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI), Acoustic Evenness Index (AEI),
Welch Power Spectral Density (PSD)) and build two hierarchical Bayesian models
to quantify the changes in the soundscape over the study period.
  Our analysis reveals no long-lasting effects of the shelterwood logging on
the soundscape diversity as measured by the NDSI, but analysis of H, AEI, and
PSD suggest changes in the evenness of sounds across the frequency spectrum,
indicating a potential shift in the avian species communicating in the
soundscapes as a result of the logging. Acoustic recordings, in conjunction
with this modeling framework, can deliver cost efficient assessment of
disturbance impacts on the landscape and underlying biodiversity as represented
through the soundscape.
