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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I am a PhD student working on wolf bioacoustics. I am combining Audiomoths and Deep Learning into more efficient wolf monitoring protocols. My main field of interest is population ecology.
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Research in animal communication developing SongBeam song recorder devices
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PhD in Ecology, Nature's sound lover.
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Article
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Competition: Cornell Birdcall Identification
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
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Community Announcement
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Over the years, we have experienced AI in vision & speech. We have seen growth in LLMs. But, we could also have large sound... |
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Acoustics | 2 hours 59 minutes ago | |
| As someone from the future, thank you for posting this update! |
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Acoustics | 5 days 23 hours ago | |
| Dear Colleagues,I hope this message finds you well. I am Manuel Sánchez Nivicela., an independent ornithology researcher based in Ecuador,... |
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Funding and Finance, Acoustics, Latin America Community | 6 days 18 hours ago | |
| Kudos for such an innovative approach—integrating additional sensors with acoustic recorders is a brilliant step forward! I'm especially interested in how you tackle energy... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Latin America Community, Open Source Solutions | 1 week 1 day ago | |
| 🐝 Apis Nomadica Labs: Mapping Royal Jelly Terroir Through Mobile Bee BiotechAbout Us:Apis Nomadica Labs is a mobile apiary research... |
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Acoustics, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Animal Movement, Human-Wildlife Coexistence | 1 week 3 days ago | |
| Awesome, I think I get what you mean! Thank you! |
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Acoustics | 2 weeks 3 days ago | |
| This is such a compelling direction, especially the idea of linking unsupervised vocalisation clustering to generative models for controlled playback. I haven’t seen much done... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 2 weeks 4 days ago | |
| Hi Josept! Thank you for sharing your experience! This types of feedback are important for the community to know about when choosing what tech to use for their work. Would you be... |
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Acoustics, Latin America Community, Software Development | 3 weeks 2 days ago | |
| Another option you can try is HawkEars, which is a classifier made particularly for Canadian birds. Unlike BirdNET, it doesn't have a graphical interface, though. |
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Acoustics | 3 weeks 2 days ago | |
| PROJECT UPDATE: We are curating an open-access, annotated acoustic dataset for India! 🇮🇳🌿This project has two main goals:🎧 To develop a freely available dataset of annotated... |
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Acoustics | 1 month ago | |
| Just to provide an update to my post from 2021. Colleagues and I at the BTO have built a species classifier now for the BTO Acoustic Pipeline for the sound identification of all... |
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Acoustics | 1 month ago | |
| Thanks @Adrien_Pajot, we are! Also buoys! |
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Acoustics, Animal Movement | 1 month 1 week ago |
