( am discovered that the footfall of a la...)Scientists journey to southern Africa to unravel the secret world of elephant communication

"We think we can tell the difference between elephants and other species based on the spectral content of their footstep as they pass by a geophone array," says Jason Wood, who is leading the seismic censusing study. "The idea is to have geophone arrays that could be left in the ground for a month at a time, recording data without anybody having to be there. We're hoping they could be deployed at remote waterholes or ideally in central Africa, where it's hard to conduct an aerial census because of the dense forest canopy."

Human-generated noise is another concern for conservationists. Researchers have found that rotating helicopter blades generate low-pitched noises, and possibly seismic vibrations, that can disrupt and frighten wild herds located far away. David Larom and others argue, therefore, that the use of helicopters in areas inhabited by elephants should be carefully monitored and controlled.

Seismic research also may prove useful as a deterrent against poachers. "There is military technology to detect and track tanks seismically," Larom explains. "This could potentially be used to track poacher vehicles as well."

Eventually, O'Connell-Rodwell hopes to broaden her research to include other large animals that produce low-frequency vocalizations, such as rhinos, lions and giraffes. "Caitlin and others have already established that small creatures use seismic communication," Larom observes. "The elephant studies, if they prove out the seismic hypothesis, should be extended to other megafauna--hippos, perhaps--then on down the size scale."

O'Connell-Rodwell is writing a book on seismic communication in elephants that is scheduled to be published in 2006. Meanwhile, she and her colleagues continue to analyze the results of the 2004 experiment a
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Source:Stanford University