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
- @Samiul
- | He/His/Him
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Working for wildlife conservation in Bangladesh since 2010.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
PhD researcher at the University of East Anglia with the working title - "From landscape to soundscape: what drives spatial variation in natural soundscape characteristics?"
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
Newcastle University
Senior Lecturer in Biological Modelling. Interests in AI, spatial data, invertebrate ecology, species mapping
- 0 Resources
- 8 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- @pmarchetto
- | he/him
University of Minnesota
http://about.me/pete.marchetto
- 1 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
National Geographic Society
Experience utilizing technology to inspire, educate, and create solutions to some of our biggest challenges. Currently, head of the National Geographic Society Exploration Technology Lab, overseeing the development and deployment of research and storytelling technologies.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 16 Groups
University of Florida (UF)
PhD student - acoustic monitoring in Amazon flooded forests.
- 0 Resources
- 17 Discussions
- 1 Groups
I'm a wildlife ecologist with interests in a range of technology.
- 0 Resources
- 22 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @ana-alcantara
- | She/her
Postgraduate Biology student interested in bioacoustics, conservation biology and biodiversity
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 10 Groups
- @AthenaRycyk
- | she/her
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- @SamuelHertz
- | He/Him/His
I'm a PhD researcher at Royal Holloway University of London (Centre for GeoHumanities) researching modalities of sound-sensing technologies across climate and conservation sciences. Interested in ethics and histories of acoustic monitoring as well as new visualization methods.
- 0 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 10 Groups
Nature lover
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @dhanushshetty
- | he/him
Centre for Wildlife Studies
Doctoral fellow at Centre for Wildlife Studies
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 1 Groups
Careers
Acoustic Monitoring Biologist (Avian)
Jerry Cole
The Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) seeks a biologist to assist with an autonomous recording unit (ARU) bird monitoring project at California off-highway vehicle recreation parks and other ARU monitoring projects...
19 October 2022
Link
"We develop the use of benthic species as animal oceanographers by combining archival (depth, temperature) data from animal-borne tags, passive acoustic telemetry & citizen-science mark-recapture records for the...
10 October 2022
Careers
Open Position at Cornell - Software/Firmware Developer
Holger Klinck
The Yang Center is seeking a Software/Firmware Developer responsible for designing, developing, improving, and maintaining embedded systems to acquire and process bioacoustic data. The
6 October 2022
Article
Audio Across Domains Workshop 2022
Tessa Rhinehart
A collaborative and cross-disciplinary meeting of audio data scientists spawns creative research collaborations
3 October 2022
Link
Authors developed system to acoustically identify individual animals (under varying conditions) using combo of multi-scale information integration, multi-channel audio & multi-task learning. Tested on captive group...
3 October 2022
Link
'The low-power camera uses power from harvested acoustic energy and communicates colour images wirelessly via acoustic backscatter.' - https://twitter.com/NaturePortfolio/status/1574863768714100738?s=20&t=...
29 September 2022
Authors 'examined effectiveness of acoustic monitoring compared to capture-based & video monitoring of seasonal swarming behavior among Myotis bats in UK. The 3 approaches have advantages & disadvantages for...
27 September 2022
Link
Authors demonstrated "a low cost, simple method to support acoustic tag surveys by identifying tags both from direct acoustic recordings & by reconstructing code packets from processed C-POD data. Method was applied...
26 September 2022
Careers
The Senior Conservation Technology Specialist will be responsible for providing technical advice and capacity development to GWP project teams on conservation technology, distilling challenges and lessons from project...
22 September 2022
Link
Authors developed reproducible passive acoustic monitoring pipeline to rapidly provide baseline information on invasive alien species (IAS); found that IAS occurrence related to high levels of human disturbance.
21 September 2022
Link
Authors "developed a three-hydrophone passive acoustic monitoring system that provides bearing information along with marine mammal detections to allow for informed management decisions in real-time."
20 September 2022
June 2025
event
Julia Wiel
July 2025
September 2025
October 2025
event
Vanesa Reyes
November 2025
November 2023
61 Products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi everyone, Thanks for attending today's episode! You can find all of the collaborative notes at the link below, and we also encourage you to use this thread to connect... |
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Acoustics | 4 years 10 months ago | |
| Hi everyone, If anyone is looking for the episode's collaborative notes, you can find them here: https://notes.datawrapper.de/p/Tech_Tutors_Episode_3 This doc... |
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Acoustics | 4 years 10 months ago | |
| Hi all, There is a conversation underway in the "Ethics of conservation tech" group on best practices for responsible ue of... |
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Acoustics | 4 years 11 months ago | |
| How do we get notified for the next group buy? |
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Acoustics | 5 years ago | |
| Hello all, I am new to recording but have been learning about acousting environmental monitoring for several years now. Covid19 has me... |
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Acoustics | 5 years ago | |
| Hi Isla, Range at which animals hear sounds depend on 4 things: 1) the frequency (pitch) of the sound of interest. As a rule of thumb, lower frequency sounds travel... |
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Acoustics | 5 years ago | |
| We used the following lithium batteries. URL: https://fortebattery.en.made-in-china.com/product/FBDEubqyfGhH/China-C-Size-Lithium-Batteries-Cr26500-Cr26500se-... |
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Acoustics | 5 years ago | |
| Hi Carly, The recording + our notes is here: WILDLABS Virtual Meetup - Acoustic Monitoring We also keep an archive of all past meetups here: ... |
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Acoustics | 5 years 1 month ago | |
| Hi there I was wondering when this virtual meetup recording will be available? Thanks :) Axel |
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Acoustics | 5 years 1 month ago | |
| Hi Harold! Great to know you are in the domain. To be honest my analysis so far indicates that when conducting a DSP approach on the spectrum, smoothing via... |
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Acoustics | 5 years 2 months ago | |
| How can we learn more about your BEESWAX7 buzz identification and counting program, and discuss working together? |
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Acoustics | 5 years 2 months ago | |
| Hi David, I use cron-like patterns. One form looks something like: mon,wed-sun 0-23:0-59/10 90 which means every day but Tuesdays, every 10 minutes from... |
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Acoustics | 5 years 8 months ago |
