Recordings of cicadas will help scientists understand the range, abundance, and daily sound patterns of periodical cicadas in Cook County sites where 17-year cicadas are present. This will be the first time in history that sound recordings can be used to map our local cicada populations.
sample heatmap using data modeling, with darker color corresponding to greater sound pollution
sample cluster soundmap of calling frogs, courtesy of Allison Sacerdote-Velat.
Why?
Periodical Cicada emergences can indicate not just present land use, but the cumulative impact of the last 17 years at a given site. Factors that are harming terrestrial invertebrate populations include changing land use, climate change, pesticide use, and soil compaction. Experts in ecological restoration and natural areas land management increasingly urge our field to pay more attention to what is happening below ground in order to foster healthy ecosystems.
Get Involved
The Magicicada Soundmap Project is underway with trained monitors walking routes and recording data. While we are not accepting volunteers to do monitoring, we do still need your help on iNaturalist! Anywhere you hear cicadas, use iNaturalist to record the cicadas. You can identify the recordings as “Magicicada” and they will end up in the Singing Insects Monitoring Program project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/singing-insects-monitoring-program. We will review the recordings, identify to species if there is only one on the recording, and use your data for creating soundmaps. Thank you for turning your ears to the cicadas!
Contact Negin Almassi, Resource Management Training Specialist, at negin.almassi@cookcountyil.gov to volunteer or ask further questions.
view the iNaturalist project and join a training to become a cicada monitor.