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
No showcases have been added to this group yet.
- @andrew-1234
- | He/Him
PhD in Ecology; I like software development, and working with spatial and acoustic methods applied to species monitoring and research.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
St. Lawrence University
Professor of Biology at St. Lawrence University
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 12 Groups
- @diego_lizcano
- | He/Him
Wildlife biologist interested in biodiversity monitoring and the conservation of mammals. Passionate photographer.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- @ecosystem2
- | he/him
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
wildlife crime WWF-NL
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @sruizguz
- | He / Him / His
Laboratory research technician at the Kitzes lab - University of Pittsburgh. My research focuses on acoustic monitoring for ecology and conservation.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- @jenlaw
- | She/Her
Biodiversity scientist specialising specialising in the study of tropical ecosystems and their biodiversity using multiple forms of technology, including acoustics, images and robotics.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 14 Groups
- @dieagomezmor
- | he/him/his
Master in biology with a background in GIS, bioacoustics and soundscape ecology.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
The University of Queensland
Passionate about using technology and data to solve conservation issues.
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 9 Groups
- @ldbraunholtz
- | she/her
(Tropical) forest ecologist w interest: biodiversity, camera traps, community led conservation & more. Passionate about inclusive nature for all.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 10 Groups
- @Riley
- | she/they
I'm a Data Scientist at Western EcoSystems Technology. I am interested in AI processing and statistical modeling of acoustic data and camera trap and drone imagery.
- 3 Resources
- 5 Discussions
- 5 Groups
Careers
Postdoc: Noise Impacts on Marine Animals
Carly Batist
Mystic Aquarium is seeking a Postdoctoral Investigator (PDI) to address noise impacts on aquatic species, particularly beluga whales, seals and turtles. This project will develop & carry out research to address...
1 September 2022
Link
Silva et al - - R package to train convolutional neural networks & employ them to classify sounds - sound event classification pipeline, from annotating recordings to automating trained networks - case...
1 September 2022
Careers
Seeking interested individuals with qualifications and educational background and experience in marine species biology/ecology (marine mammals, sea turtles, fish, seabirds, etc.); with skills in applied scientific study...
31 August 2022
Careers
Acoustics Modeler & Analyst, Marine Acoustics Inc
Stephanie O'Donnell
Marine Acoustics, Inc. (MAI) is seeking an Acoustic Modeler and Analyst to assist us in the analysis of underwater acoustic system performance and the effect underwater acoustic transmissions have on the marine...
30 August 2022
Careers
Conservation Technology Research Internship
Meredith Palmer
Boost cons tech capacity at an international NGO! Fauna & Flora International is offering a paid three-month internship to consolidate and share best practices for the application of emerging hardware and software...
26 August 2022
Link
First seen on Diego Llusia's Twitter - https://twitter.com/DiegoLlusia/status/1561275951463415808?s=20&t=5Z-DoKbO0qGLZcSKStCtPQ
22 August 2022
Article
Ceres Wild Rhino application
Kim Lane
An update on Ceres Tags products that are being used in conservation
22 August 2022
Funding
Product Grant Program
Wildlife Acoustics
Wildlife Acoustics' grant program to receive bioacoustic tools and software is now accepting applications. Apply for up to $4,000 worth of products and software licenses.
9 August 2022
Careers
Opportunity: Postdoctoral Researcher
Ellie Warren
Gavin Jones is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join his movemebt ecology and bioacoustics work focusing on spotted owls.
4 August 2022
Careers
Earth Species Project - Senior AI Research Scientist
Andrea Austin
The Earth Species Project (ESP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to decoding animal communication and translating non-human language.
15 July 2022
Article
New papers on passive acoustic monitoring
Carly Batist
PAM & transfer learning, defining occupancy in surveys, effects of anthropogenic noise on fish, soundscapes to track ecosystem recovery, detecting sharks with echosounders, using PAMGuard to detect marine mammals
21 June 2022
Careers
Hiring Acoustic Ecology Postdoctoral Fellow
Sara Petrita Bombaci
The Sound and Light Ecology Team, a collaboration between Colorado State University and National Park Service scientists, is hiring an acoustic ecology postdoctoral fellow in Fort Collins, CO.
16 June 2022
August 2025
event
Louisa Richmond-Coggan
September 2025
October 2025
event
Vanesa Reyes
November 2025
November 2023
64 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good afternoon,My name is Maya and I am writing to you as an intern at 'Sounding Images', a Berlin-based production company https://www.... |
|
Acoustics | 3 years ago | |
| I don't know if this was resolved, but if you copy this code into a python file in the same folder as your .wav files and then run it, it should rename everything. Try testing it... |
|
Acoustics | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| The Bioacoustics Stack Exchange has reached the Beta stage and is LIVE! It is also in a critical... |
|
Acoustics | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| Hi just bringing this thread back up to attention: the bioacoustics stackexchange is now up and running in beta form, and could use as much participation as possible to ensure its... |
|
Acoustics | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| Hmm 20kg raised 5m would only buy you less than half an AA battery assuming 100% efficiency. Lame, so much for that idea. |
|
Acoustics | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| @gracieermi & I are happy to announce the latest update to the Conservation Tech Directory, bringing our total resources in the... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Community Base, Data management and processing tools, Drones, eDNA & Genomics, Geospatial, Software Development | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| Awesome stuff!! Interested in what kind of recorders you are using and how are you sync'ing them for the TDOA? |
|
Acoustics | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| Jamie's tip piqued my curiosity, so I bought what I thought might be what Jamie was talking about. It is an SK-001 as detailed here (not my video) for SGD4 or thereabouts.... |
|
Acoustics | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| Hi Eric, Dropping in a reply we had over on Linkedin here. Annoyingly I can't do a snazzy embed of the comment - will fix that!Anton Baotic shared: I guess it depends on... |
|
Acoustics, Early Career | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| Thank you @carlybatist , @Freaklabs and @MK . The inputs are very useful and I am progressing on my project based on that. Appreciate a lot. |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation | 3 years 1 month ago | |
| Hi Julien,I use this mic for my raspberry pi setup and it works well picking up bird species singing in our garden while the mic and raspberry sit under our roof tiles.Greetings,... |
+2
|
Acoustics | 3 years 2 months ago | |
| Koen, Hi - the config for the audiomoth looks fine (you could put a high-pass filter on to cover frequencies 12-96 kHz only). The scheduler is not set (you have 0 files per day... |
|
Acoustics | 3 years 5 months ago |
