Biogeographical and analytical implications of temporal variability in geographically diverse soundscapes

•Continuous soundscape recordings were made in eight ecosystems on four continents.•Temporal variability of soundscapes was quantified using two distinct measures.•Daytime exhibited high temporal variability relative to dusk and nighttime.•Increasing evenness of subsampling distribution reduces error in representation.•Marginal precision gains diminish substantially beyond 1/3 recording time.