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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Interested in automated insect monitoring.
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- @JeremyFroidevaux
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- @Antonio.A.Ferraz
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Scientist interested in integrating remotely sensed habitat characterization with animal movement and acoustics datasets for conservation applications. Working at JPL and UCLA-IoES affliated
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Open Acoustic Devices
I am co-founder of Open Acoustic Devices, the creators of AudioMoth and HydroMoth. My background is Electronic Engineering and Computer Science.
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PhD Candidate in autonomous marine biodiversity modelling
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FruitPunch AI
CTO and Founder of FruitPunch AI
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San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Wildlife ecologist with a passtion for conseration technology.
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PhD Candidate at University College London. Research and develop wireless sensor networks for biodiversity monitoring. Currently working on a software package for AI bioacoustics classifiers on edge device.
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Saint Louis Zoo
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- @alex_rogers
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University of Oxford
I am a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford where I work on developing novel low-cost conservation technology (including AudioMoth and SnapperGPS).
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Link
New Paper: Identification of fish sounds
Ellie Warren
Xavier Mouy recently shared this new bioacoustics paper on Twitter. This research focuses on identifying fish sounds in relation to specific species through the use of three underwater portable audio-video platforms....
5 May 2023
Article
In this research, six acoustic indicators were used to evaluate the sound of the urban soundscape and the sound of birds in urban parks. The results of the research show that there is a significant relationship between...
2 May 2023
Article
HydroMoth GroupGets Campaign is Open
Ellie Warren
If you've been waiting to try a HydroMoth, join the GroupGets campaign before limited supplies run out
17 April 2023
Careers
Project Manager, Rainforest Connection (RFCx)
Carly Batist
The Project Manager will work to implement acoustic monitoring projects in countries worldwide with some of the biggest stakeholders in conservation tech and biodiversity monitoring!
12 April 2023
Careers
Hardware Lead - Biodiversity / Conservation
Ben Williamson
New role at Pivotal Earth
4 April 2023
Link
The WILDLABS Variety Hour: March 2023 - YouTube
Stephanie O'Donnell
If you missed our Variety Hour show yesterday, do not fear! It's already live on youtube for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
30 March 2023
Link
Alex Rogers: Acoustic Devices for Biodiversity Monitoring — Smart Forests Atlas
Stephanie O'Donnell
In this radio episode, we speak to Alex Rogers, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford. We discuss how Alex's research team developed the acoustic recording device AudioMoth, how low-cost technologies...
24 March 2023
Article
New paper in Trends in Parasitology discusses how acoustic monitoring can be used to assess presence and overlap of host or reservoir species, disease vectors and human activity.
8 March 2023
Careers
Proposals wanted for Innovation in Practice
Ellie Warren
The Innovation in Practice edition of Methods in Ecology and Evolution is still seeking proposals about conservation technology
6 March 2023
Article
In this study, we used a network of acoustic sensors to record the gun hunting pressure at known hunting sites in the Ionian Islands, Greece—a known poaching hot-spot—over four spring migrations (2019–2022).
24 February 2023
Article
The Arbimon newsletter is back!
Carly Batist
Rainforest Connection (RFCx) is bringing back the Arbimon newsletter for 2023! We're excited to share new features and tools of the platform, what's coming up, and some insights into our projects on bioacoustic...
23 February 2023
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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| These would be infrasound, so no the sealed volume doesn't need to be buried. It only needs to be a few cc total volume for a single element. I found an old poster... |
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Acoustics | 10 months ago | |
| Thanks, we know they are breeding these animals here, I asked, since it's seems to be an expensive hobby, we need to allocate more funding for rural women in entrepreneurship and... |
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Acoustics, Animal Movement, Citizen Science, Human-Wildlife Coexistence, Protected Area Management Tools, Wildlife Crime | 10 months ago | |
| WildMon, Terra Genesis, The VF Foundation, Thaksin University, and the Wanakaset Symbiosis Network have teamed up on a new project in... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Community Base | 10 months 1 week ago | |
| This looks awesome! |
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Acoustics | 10 months 1 week ago | |
| I would love to see my bat detector designs in use in Africa - drop me a line, let's see if we can get something to happen - I'm pipistrelledetector at gmail dot comhttp://www.... |
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Citizen Science, Acoustics, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Human-Wildlife Coexistence | 10 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Hi Phil, Thanks for sharing - this is really interesting work! Seems like a cool integration of ground-based (or ocean-based) data and satellite data, with a community... |
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Geospatial, Acoustics, Camera Traps, eDNA & Genomics | 10 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Or you could use my sbts-aru project. Which is free software that runs on Raspberry Pis. It also allows you to perform sound localization remotely if required, without bringing... |
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Acoustics | 10 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Yes, predation is a significant conservation issue, especially for vulnerable species. Invasive predators can harm native wildlife, and carnivores preying on livestock often lead... |
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Acoustics | 10 months 3 weeks ago | |
| I shared some information on different ARU options in this post which might help! |
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Acoustics | 11 months ago | |
| Thanks for the plug, @Rob_Appleby Yes, we do a lot of work with audio playback as a nonlethal deterrent. We generally don’t do any work on identifying the animal... |
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Acoustics | 11 months 1 week ago | |
| Hi Sean! I was the one who annotated these recordings and this is definitely a mistake- that song is a Hauxwell's Thrush; it's annotated correctly with 15622 but not with... |
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Acoustics | 11 months 2 weeks ago | |
| @calyptura Try using another version of the download scripts that you can download from this link. There are 2 version of the script available. |
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Acoustics | 11 months 2 weeks ago |
