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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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
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Authors founds dawn & dusk choruses were lost/supressed in plantations, acoustic activity at dawn/dusk reduced in disturbed ecosystems compared to healthy forests.
20 September 2022
Funding
The European Biodiversity Partnership Biodiversa+, co-funded by the European Union, has launched a call for research proposals on “Improved transnational monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem change for science and...
14 September 2022
Careers
Join the BirdNET team!
Holger Klinck
The BirdNet team are seeking to fill three roles, including an Ecologist, Data scientist and an Embedded Systems Engineer based in Germany.
9 September 2022
Careers
BOEM job openings
Kerri D Seger
Two job openings for BOEM in the United States
8 September 2022
Careers
The Purdue University Center for Global Soundscapes is seeking a new postdoctoral fellow to work on a project at the intersection of soundscape monitoring and remote sensing / geospatial data
8 September 2022
August 2025
event
Louisa Richmond-Coggan
September 2025
October 2025
event
Vanesa Reyes
November 2025
February 2023
event
Wildlife Acoustics
January 2023
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi everyone, I happened upon this community on Twitter and I thought it would be the perfect place to post about the Wildlife... |
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Acoustics | 8 years 2 months ago | |
| 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 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 1 month 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 3 months ago | |
| The Elephant Listening Project at the University of Cornell is looking a Postdoctoral research to study forest elephants in central Africa using a combination of field... |
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Acoustics | 9 years 5 months ago | |
| Like many scientists, I am addicted to learning as much information about my field as possible. That being said - does anyone have any... |
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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 | |
| This special issue of Ecological Informatics, entitled Ecological Acoustics, is a great overview of the applicatoins of acoustic... |
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Acoustics | 9 years 7 months ago |
