Acoustic Biodiversity And Ecosystem Integrity: A Normative Legal Approach To Sound Extinction

Acoustic biodiversity understood as the fusion of biological sounds (biophony), geophysical sounds (geophony), and anthropogenic sounds (anthrophony), which together constitute an ecosystem's soundscape represents an increasingly prominent element within the concept of ecosystem integrity, yet remains inadequately protected under existing environmental legal frameworks. This paper addresses the phenomenon of sound extinction )the progressive fading of natural biophonic sounds, driven by multiple causes, most notably anthropogenic noise and habitat fragmentation( as an emerging legal dimension within the field of environmental law, approached from a normative legal perspective. Drawing on the scientific literature in soundscape ecology and ecoacoustics, the study analyzes how acoustic indices and passive acoustic monitoring have become established as reliable technical tools for measuring biodiversity, set against a critical examination of the regulatory lag that characterizes environmental noise legislation h