Passage A Environmental monitoring usually emphasizes visible habitat and measurable chemical conditions. Sound is sometimes treated as an incidental by-product rather than a source of ecological information. Passage B A soundscape can reveal bird activity, insect cycles, machinery, traffic, and seasonal change that visual surveys miss. Yet a recording is not self-interpreting: microphone placement, weather, frequency range, and cultural expectations shape what counts as noise or vitality. Acoustic ecology is strongest when quantitative pattern detection is joined with field observation and community accounts of meaningful sound. Listening can widen environmental evidence without pretending that every sound has one objective significance. How would a careful reader map Passage B’s central conclusion, communicative purpose, sequence, and authorial attitude toward acoustic ecology?