Data from: Free-ranging livestock grazing shifts the acoustic community in a Northeast Asian temperate forest

Understanding livestock‒wildlife interactions, especially in forest
ecosystems, is critical for biodiversity conservation and sustainable land
management. However, the long-term and cascading impacts of livestock
grazing on forest structure and community bioacoustics are important yet
largely neglected areas of research. Here, we used acoustic indices and a
sound event detection (SED) model to evaluate the effects of continuous
cattle grazing on seasonal soundscapes in Northeast China. We collected
and analyzed over 18,785 h of recordings from 10 cattle-grazed forest
plots and 10 ungrazed forest plots in Northeast China. We identified sound
events in each recording via deep learning and calculated six acoustic
indices, as well as extracted vegetation characteristics using LiDAR point
cloud data. Our results revealed that grazing activities significantly
changed seasonal soundscape dynamics, with biophony being highest in
grazed forests and lowest in ungrazed forests in winter. Livestock shifted
the forest soundscape composition by increasing the audibility of birds
and insects while decreasing the vocalizations of sika deer (Cervus
nippon) and crows, resulting in reduced sound diversity and complexity in
grazed forests. We also found that grazing can reduce the leaf area index,
herbaceous plants and canopy density, which can influence these effects
indirectly. Interestingly, cowbells noticeably altered the dawn chorus of
birds; during spring and summer grazing periods, the chorus was
characterized by an increased bird calling rate and greater vocal
complexity (elevated Acoustic Complexity Index), patterns consistent with
a behavioral adjustment to acoustic masking. This study highlights how
livestock modify forest acoustic communities. To preserve natural
soundscapes, we suggest mitigating cowbell noise through silent trackers
(e.g., GPS) or reduced bell density in priority zones. Sustainable
practices, including rotational grazing and buffer zones, are also vital
to maintain forest structure and acoustic diversity. We suggest that
integrating SED models with acoustic indices provides a robust framework
for monitoring such anthropogenic disturbances.