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!
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Article
Deep Learning for Marine Ecology and Conservation
Ellie Warren
This article provides a review of deep learning (predominantly ML) used in marine ecology and considerations for its future directions in conservation. In plain language, the authors provide a methodology for training...
20 December 2021
Article
MBARI shares trove of marine acoustic data
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute has an extensive acoustic archive from underwater recordings and has made their valuable dataset available to researchers around the world via an open data registry on the...
5 November 2021
Funding
Opportunity: μMoth v1.1 Group buy
Open Acoustic Devices
GroupGets has a Group buy campaign for a μMoth v1.1(Round 2), that runs till Sat, 06 Nov 2021 12:55:00 PDT. The μMoth v1.1 goes for a Single-unit price of $99.99 + shipping.To join this buy, kindly visit this page
4 November 2021
Article
This article outlines how acoustic monitoring of bird species provides a means to study ecosystems with minimal disturbance and over wide areas. Birds are excellent indicator species, therefore, monitoring their trend...
21 October 2021
Article
In David Savage's Technical Difficulties case study, he discusses lessons learned from working with bioacoustic tools in the field and dealing with damages caused by environmental factors and wildlife. Download this...
12 October 2021
Article
GroupGets: μMoth Now Available
Open Acoustic Devices
The new μMoth is now available on GroupGets! These units are going quickly, so join the order quickly to be among the first to try the world's smallest full-spectrum acoustic development board! Join the GroupGets order...
27 May 2021
Article
New Papers: Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation
Zoological Society London (ZSL)
ZSL's Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation journal has released new research for early view before inclusion in an issue. See the full list of recent open access research papers on RSEC.
22 April 2021
Article
Survey Invite: Open-source acoustic monitoring technology
Open Acoustic Devices
The University of Melbourne and Open Acoustic Devices are conducting an online survey to understand the future needs of open-source acoustic monitoring technology applied to the study of biodiversity. The results of...
9 April 2021
Community Announcement
Whether you spent the last year working in the field, lab, at home, or virtually, the WILDLABS community's conservation tech achievements were on full display in our annual #Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge! Relive our...
25 March 2021
Funding
Funding Opportunity: COVID-19 Science Fund
National Geographic
National Geographic is offering funding up to up to $50,000 for conservationists conducting research on how the pandemic has impacted wildlife and conservation work. If you are interested in researching aspects of the...
10 March 2021
Article
FIS Call for Expressions of Interest (closed)
WILDLABS Team
WILDLABS community members are invited to submit an Expression of Interest to Fisheries Innovation Scotland (FIS) to participate in two research projects involving conservation tech's role in the future of sustainable...
8 December 2020
Funding
Kaggle Competition: Species Audio Detection
Rainforest Connection
Hey Acoustic Monitoring and AI for Conservation community members - don't miss Rainforest Connection's Species Auto Detection Kaggle competition, open for to competitors and teams now! Participants will have the chance...
24 November 2020
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Carly Batist
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Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Conservation Technology Lab at San Diego Zoo seeks undergrads for summer projects in computer vision, machine learning, bioacoustics,... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education | 2 years 7 months ago | |
| Yeah, it's an exciting project. Also will be a great excuse to improve PAMGuard documentation - something sorely needed. Python libraries also on the way as part of this.As for... |
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Acoustics | 2 years 9 months ago | |
| Hi Alex,I'd go much further along the lines that David @dtsavage sets out. Before jumping to implementations, better think through why you want to keep all that data, and for who... |
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Acoustics, Data management and processing tools | 2 years 9 months ago | |
| The open-source program Audacity can show the spectrograms and histograms and has quite a lot of other useful features, e.g. playing ultrasound calls slower, so it can be heard by... |
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Acoustics, Citizen Science, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 2 years 9 months ago | |
| Thanks so much!! |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Community Base, Data management and processing tools, Drones, eDNA & Genomics, Emerging Tech, Open Source Solutions, Geospatial, Software Development | 2 years 10 months ago | |
| I love the idea of increasing international collaboration and inclusion within acoustic monitoring! I think there particularly needs to be more collab'ing between the terrestrial... |
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Acoustics | 2 years 10 months ago | |
| Hi there Camilo, What an interesting project! If you are looking for a lower cost, but effective tools for acoustic monitoring you might want to look into two options: ... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools, Sensors, Software Development, Latin America Community | 2 years 10 months ago | |
| I have been waiting for journal club to come back!! 10000% down.I agree with @StephODonnell, would love it to come back!!! And now that variety hour is happening, that's more of... |
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Acoustics, Community Base | 2 years 11 months ago | |
| Alex,which one of thosehttps://selectronix.co.uk/collections/waterproof-acoustic-vents would be the appropriate for the Audiomoth case?Agus |
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Acoustics | 2 years 11 months ago | |
| Hey maya, If you're free - come along to our Variety Hour call next week and ask folks there too. We're keeping the last 10 mins open for people to jump up and put out calls... |
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Acoustics | 3 years ago | |
| @Andrew_Hill I wonder if you could let us know more about the time keeping difference btw the regular AudioMoth and the HydroMoth (which is said to do better)? |
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Acoustics, Marine Conservation | 3 years ago | |
| The Bioacoustics Stack Exchange has now made it past the private beta stage and onto public beta as of July 26! This means that the site... |
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Acoustics | 3 years ago |
