Acoustic sensors enable efficient and non-invasive monitoring of a wide range of species, including many that are difficult to monitor in other ways. Although they were initially limited in application scope largely due to cost and hardware constraints, the development of low-cost, open-source models like the Audiomoth in recent years has increased access immensely and opened up new avenues of research. For example, some teams are using them to identify illicit human activities through the detection of associated sounds, like gunshots, vehicles, or chainsaws (e.g. OpenEars).
With this relatively novel dimension of wildlife monitoring rapidly advancing in both marine and terrestrial systems, it is crucial that we identify and share information about the utility and constraints of these sensors to inform efforts. A recent study identified advancements in hardware and machine learning applications, as well as early development of acoustic biodiversity indicators, as factors facilitating progress in the field. In terms of limitations, the authors highlight insufficient reference sound libraries, a lack of open-source audio processing tools, and a need for standardization of survey and analysis protocols. They also stress the importance of collaboration in moving forward, which is precisely what this group will aim to facilitate.
If you're new to acoustic monitoring and want to get up to speed on the basics, check out these beginner's resources and conversations from across the WILDLABS platform:
Three Resources for Beginners:
- Listening to Nature: The Emerging Field of Bioacoustics, Adam Welz
- Ecoacoustics and Biodiversity Monitoring, RSEC Journal
- Monitoring Ecosystems through Sound: The Present and Future of Passive Acoustics, Ella Browning and Rory Gibb
Three Forum Threads for Beginners:
- AudioMoth user guide | Tessa Rhinehart
- Audiomoth and Natterjack Monitoring (UK) | Stuart Newson
- Help with analysing bat recordings from Audiomoth | Carlos Abrahams
Three Tutorials for Beginners:
- "How do I perform automated recordings of bird assemblages?" | Carlos Abrahams, Tech Tutors
- "How do I scale up acoustic surveys with Audiomoths and automated processing?" | Tessa Rhinehart, Tech Tutors
- Acoustic Monitoring | David Watson, Ruby Lee, Andy Hill, and Dimitri Ponirakis, Virtual Meetups
Want to know more about acoustic monitoring and learn from experts in the WILDLABS community? Jump into the discussion in our Acoustic Monitoring group!
Header image: Carly Batist
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- @geoffcarss
- | He/Him
CEO of Wilder Sensing - using AI to better understand changes to biodiversity using acoustic sensors
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Wildlife enthusiast who happens to run an embedded systems lab
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Petnerup
Animal tech startup founder
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- @cathjprice123
- | she/her
I am a conservation behaviour researcher interested in acoustic and olfactory cues, and how they influence foraging responses.
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- @BrunaTeixeira
- | She
Master and PhD student in the Postgraduate Program in Animal Biology. She works mainly in Landscape Ecology with an emphasis on bioacoustics and interactions between primates.
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- @hannahrisser
- | She/her
CEH
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International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Key Biodiversity Areas Programme Officer, IUCN
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- 89 Discussions
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- @chenxing3
- | he/him
- 0 Resources
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Assiniboine Park Conservancy
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Article
Catch up on the conservation tech discussions and events that happened during World Wildlife Day 2024!
7 March 2024
Careers
A PHD POSITION AT NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY
Consolata Gathoni Gitau
Do you know anyone interested in this position? Let them know by sharing widely.
27 February 2024
Careers
The Ecological Acoustics and Behavior Lab at the University of New Hampshire seeks a PhD student to join our lab to investigate how forest habitat affects moose occupancy and soundscape in northern New Hampshire
13 February 2024
Careers
The primary focus of the research is to explore how red deer movements, space use, habitat selection and foraging behaviour change during the wolf recolonization process.
10 February 2024
Link
These researchers are introduce the ISPA (Inter-Species Phonetic Alphabet) as a new way to precisely interpret and transcribe animal sounds. By using text to represent sounds, existing human language machine learning...
8 February 2024
Careers
PhD Opportunity - Exploring plants’ sensing capability with vibroacoustics
University of Southampton
Applications open for a PhD position in plant vibroacoustics at the University of Southampton
8 February 2024
Article
We demonstrate the power of using passive acoustic monitoring & machine learning to survey species, using ruffed lemurs in southeastern Madagascar as an example.
23 January 2024
Link
Questionnaire for Pain Points and Needs in Bioacoustics
Olivier Staehli
Hi! We're engineers eager to understand how technology can simplify acoustic work. If you use recorders, your input would be invaluable. Please consider taking our 5min survey. As a thank you, participants will be...
23 January 2024
Careers
Program Officer - Bioacoustics, WILDLABS
Henry Rees
Come join our team! We're looking for a Program Officer to join the WILDLABS Community, hosted by WCS in Argentina. This role will support our research program, with the chosen candidate leading our horizon scanning...
22 January 2024
Careers
Hiring bioacoutics analysts
Joshua Taylor
We're hiring ecologists for immediate start / remote working / short contract
19 January 2024
Careers
Two year postdoc - Machine Learning & Bioacoustics
Emmanuel Dufourq
Two years in Cape Town, South Africa. Yearly visits to Rwanda. If you love to code, and all things Python/deep learning/tech stuff/ then you'll have an awesome time!
16 January 2024
Article
This article discussed early work on modeling how acoustic properties of the environment will change with variations in weather.
9 January 2024
September 2025
October 2025
event
Vanesa Reyes
November 2025
April 2023
March 2023
event
Stephanie O'Donnell
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi guys, interesting discussion. As you may have read, we are developing an elephant-detector (to avoid HWC's). The technology we are using (neural networks) can... |
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Acoustics | 8 years 2 months ago | |
| Hi Bhavesh - thanks a lot. WildLabs doesn't allow me to upload .wav files - can I email you or get them to you another way? They are small - 2 seconds each. You... |
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Acoustics | 8 years 4 months ago | |
| sorry, double entry |
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Acoustics | 8 years 9 months ago | |
| Hello Courtney My turn to apologies for delay. Your study sounds very interesting and potentially a valuable technique for future in-situ research. Seems it could indeed fit... |
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Acoustics | 8 years 11 months ago | |
| Great survey idea, Rory! I am completing it for my organization now so you should see another form input shortly. |
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Acoustics | 9 years 1 month ago | |
| For those who are interested in this thread, Arik has posted his new prototype in a new thread, where the discussion has continued. |
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Acoustics | 9 years 2 months ago | |
| Hi Tiago, Thank you for sharing this paper and contributing your experience to the thread. Blantant self promotion, as you put it, is more than welcome when the work... |
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Acoustics | 9 years 4 months ago | |
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Acoustics | 9 years 6 months ago | |
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Acoustics | 9 years 6 months ago | |
| Excerpted from an article available via Alberta Farm Press (opens in new window). "A University of Alberta... |
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Acoustics | 9 years 6 months ago | |
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Acoustics | 9 years 7 months ago |
