Rethinking ecoacoustic indices to advance understanding of the relationship between soundscapes and the environment...

Ecoacoustic indices have become widely used tools for monitoring and characterizing soundscapes. Although they have proven useful for relating acoustic measurements to ecological patterns, their conceptual and methodological foundations remain debated. Here, this Letter identifies five recurring limitations, ranging from theoretical disconnects to methodological shortcomings, that undermine their interpretability, reproducibility, and ecological relevance. The Letter concludes by outlining a possible roadmap to address these limitations, including the adoption of auditory-inspired representations, the standardization of computational procedures, validation across contexts, and the use of more explainable modeling approaches.