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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Based in Australia, in the Blue Mountains and working with WWF-Australia on a new program "Eyes on Country". Working on the interface of tech, conservation and First Nations/Ranger groups.
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I am a master's student currently working on acoustic monitoring of an Endangered frog species in South Africa.
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Article
HawkEars: a high-performance bird sound classifier for Canada
Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute
HawkEars is a deep learning model designed specifically to recognize the calls of 328 Canadian bird species and 13 amphibians.
13 May 2025
Link
ecoTECH YouTube webinar playlist by Biological Recording Company
Amber Balfour-Cunningham
The Biological Recording Company's ecoTECH YouTube playlist has a focus on webinars about Bioacoustic monitoring.
29 April 2025
Link
This paper includes, in its supplementary materials, a helpful table comparing several acoustic recorders used in terrestrial environments, along with associated audio and metadata information.
15 April 2025
Article
Nature Tech for Biodiversity Sector Map launched!
Carly Batist and 1 more
Conservation International is proud to announce the launch of the Nature Tech for Biodiversity Sector Map, developed in partnership with the Nature Tech Collective!
1 April 2025
Careers
PhD position on bat acoustics and collective behavior
Blair Costelloe
PhD position available at the University of Konstanz in the Active Sensing Collective Group!
28 March 2025
InsectSet459 - the first large-scale open dataset of insect sounds, featuring 26,399 audio clips from 459 species of Orthoptera and Cicadidae.
24 March 2025
Careers
Naturalis is looking for a postdoc in AI for Ultrasonic Bioacoustic Monitoring
24 March 2025
Careers
Postdoctoral opening in the Bioacoustics and Behavioral Ecology Lab at Syracuse University
14 March 2025
Funding
BirdCLEF+ 2025
Alex Rood
Species identification from audio, focused on birds, amphibians, mammals and insects from the Middle Magdalena Valley of Colombia.
12 March 2025
Careers
Postdoc in bird modelling and remote sensing
Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute
Building species-specific habitat models for forest bird species using state of the art methods and remote sensing layers
28 February 2025
Funding
Osa Conservation is launching our inaugural cohort of the ‘Susan Wojcicki Research Fellowship’ for 2025, worth up to $15,000 per awardee (award value dependent on project length and number of awards given each year)....
10 February 2025
Article
workshop introduced participants to the power of bioinformatics and next-generation sequencing (NGS) in conservation biology.
10 February 2025
June 2025
event
Julia Wiel
July 2025
September 2025
October 2025
event
Vanesa Reyes
November 2025
April 2019
61 Products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 8 years 9 months 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 | 8 years 10 months 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... |
+4
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Acoustics | 9 years 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 2 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 3 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 3 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 4 months ago |
