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
Wildlife Drones
Wildlife Drones has developed the world’s most innovative radio animal-tracking system using drones so you can track your radio-tagged animals like never before.
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Conservationist with a focus restoration ecology/rewilding and botany, a keen birder and at the moment exploring the wonders of Papua New Guinea
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- @tom_august
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Computational ecologist with interests in computer vision, citizen science, open science, drones, acoustics, data viz, software engineering, public engagement
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Freaklabs
I'm an engineer and product designer working on wildlife conservation technology.
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Arribada Initiative
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Zoological Society London (ZSL)
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Ornithologist working on passive acoustic monitoring equipment R&D in China
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- @capreolus
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Capreolus e.U.
wildlife biologist with capreolus.at
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Sea Mammal Research Unit Univ' St Andrews
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- @kalfasyan
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Postdoc researcher @ MeBioS, KU Leuven
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Conservation International
I graduated in Ms of Entomology, and currently I work with Conservation International Cambodia as Biodiversity and Science Senior Coordinator.
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Careers
The Kitzes Lab at the University of Pittsburgh (http://kitzeslab.org) is seeking applications for a Postdoctoral Scholar, Research Assistant, and Graduate Student to work in the areas of bioacoustics, quantitative...
28 September 2023
Careers
Conservation Innovation Manager
David Will
Island Conservation's Innovation Team is dedicated to developing innovative, data-driven tools to increase the scale, scope, and pace of island restorations around the world. As the Conservation Innovation Manager, you...
27 September 2023
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Leaf Litter Tech Issue: WILDLABS Spotlight
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If only there was a place where these users, manufacturers, and supporters of conservation technology could connect with one another. There is. It is called WILDLABS.
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The new white paper from Rainforest Connection (RFCx) explores the power of ecoacoustics and AI to monitor biodiversity and track progress towards GBF targets using case studies from around the world.
20 September 2023
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In case you missed it...
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Five #tech4wildlife people, projects and updates that caught our attention this month. An AI supported bear early warning system, a project that's connecting indigenous communities with high speed internet, exploring...
12 September 2023
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Reviewing Now: Animal Telemetry Postdoctoral Fellowship
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
The Smithsonian Institution seeks a field- and data-oriented biologist to support marine animal telemetry research and to assist with activities of the Atlantic Cooperative Telemetry (ACT) Network.
24 August 2023
Careers
RFCx/Arbimon is hiring a Quantitative Ecologist!
Carly Batist
Apply to work on a wonderful team translating acoustic monitoring data into conservation & ecological insights!
11 August 2023
Article
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge: Judges' Panel Honorees
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Please join us in celebrating this year’s top #Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge Honorees as chosen by our panel of leading conservation organization judges, and enjoy the story contained within these entries about how our...
4 August 2023
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Senior Technical Specialist, Monitoring & Technology, ZSL
Anthony Dancer
Exciting opportunity for an experienced biodiversity monitoring expert in ZSL's conservation department
18 July 2023
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New Updates to Carbon Mapper Data Portal
Stephanie O'Donnell
Global methane data and new functionaity on the Carbon Mapper Data Portal
12 July 2023
Careers
RFCx/Arbimon is Hiring a Data Scientist!
Carly Batist
Apply to work with an absolutely all-star group developing AI/ML techniques and models for acoustic monitoring!
28 June 2023
Article
Request for proposals - Biodiversity + tech solutions
Anna Colquhoun
The GSMA ClimateTech programme
21 June 2023
November 2023
event
Stephanie O'Donnell
February 2023
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hello everyone! I am part of a team on developing CNNs to detect species in the Peruvian Amazon from soundscapes. We are having... |
|
Acoustic Monitoring | 3 days 22 hours ago | |
| Hi everyone. I am suuuuuper late on this discussion but I just finished 6-month fieldwork deploying 18 SM Micro over 70 different locations in Java, so I thought I would like to... |
+18
|
Acoustic Monitoring, Sensors | 6 days 20 hours ago | |
| Hi Andrew,Great to hear about what you are currently working on. Based on the scope of your work, here are some organisations working across East Africa that could be useful to... |
|
Acoustic Monitoring | 1 week ago | |
| I second that! |
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Acoustic Monitoring | 1 week 3 days ago | |
| Hi Luigi! You should have a look at the μMoth developed by @alex_rogers and others from Open Acoustics Devices:As an alternative audiologger meant to be... |
|
Acoustic Monitoring, Biologging, Remote Sensing & GIS | 3 weeks ago | |
| I wish to share an update on my MSc thesis project, that contributes to the field of decoding animal communication. In my work I... |
|
Acoustic Monitoring, Data management and processing tools, Early Career | 3 weeks 4 days ago | |
| Hi Wildlabbers!We were asked to share this opportunity to present at the upcoming Audiomoth conference:Presenters are urgently needed -... |
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Acoustic Monitoring | 1 month 1 week ago | |
| I've tested a Petterson ultrasonic microphone with a sample rate of 384khz and it works out of the box with this software as well. Would be cool to sound localize some bats. |
+22
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Acoustic Monitoring | 1 month 1 week ago | |
| Hi Ian,I have hours of an unidentified creature recorded during overnight recording sessions with mutliple hydrophones. We think it is platypus but there is nothing to compare... |
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Acoustic Monitoring | 1 month 3 weeks ago | |
| Audacity has a noise filter which one 'trains' on a piece of recorded noise. Perhaps it is worth a shot. Freeware, open source, and with a community of developers and users. |
+3
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Acoustic Monitoring | 2 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Steve Simpson (on behalf of collaborator @MilesParsons) joined our June Variety Hour to give a report from the Wolrd Oceans Passive... |
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Acoustic Monitoring, Marine Conservation | 2 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Hi Tom, Seeed Studio also offers manufacturing services. Check out more info on the website here :) |
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Acoustic Monitoring | 2 months 4 weeks ago |
Conservation Tech Directory - new update!
29 August 2022 2:38pm
26 September 2022 10:07pm
Thanks so much!!
Audio Data Across Domains (AudioXD) Workshop
6 June 2022 3:52pm
1 September 2022 11:46am
Great minds Alice!! I'd actually sent your workshop to justin separately this morning because of the alignment with audioxd.
As for joining things up globally, I think you're right. Looking at all that's happening in the bioacoustics community right now, seeing all these sort of events, what's happening with the bioacoustics stack exchange, and hearing the conversations that are happening - and it feels like such an opportune time to find a way to support all of these efforts link up and join forces. We have some plans on this front that will mean we'll be able to provide coordination support to help, and I'm interested to hear what people think is needed.
Steph
1 September 2022 3:21pm
Thanks Alice, and great to hear from you and Steph about the work that you all are leading. It would be great to follow up on the idea of doing more international collaboration in the ecoacoustics/bioacoustics space. If you're interested, feel free to drop me a line to catch up sometime about ideas.
Also, something of a side note, but we'll also have a Wildlabs blog post up summarizing the AudioXD meeting soon, hopefully.
26 September 2022 9:22pm
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 & aquatic/marine acoustic monitoring folks!
It would be great for more virtual/hybrid events to foster such international inclusion, so anything to facilitate that sort of online platform would be awesome!
There is also the new Bioacoustics Stack Exchange for Q&A. And the upcoming IBAC conference in Japan next October (2023).
Ecological Forecasting Initiative's data analysis webinar series
26 September 2022 6:50pm
New paper: A novel method for identifying coded tags recorded on aquatic acoustic monitoring systems
26 September 2022 2:11pm
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 to decode tag detections from bass & Twaite shad."
A novel method for identifying coded tags recorded on aquatic acoustic monitoring systems
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment - Aquatic biotelemetry increasingly relies on using acoustic transmitters (‘tags’) that enable passive detection of tagged animals using fixed or...
SpringerLink
Mangrove soundscape
27 August 2022 4:57pm
29 August 2022 2:47pm
You might check out the devices listed in the Conservation Tech Directory - you can search for 'acoustic recorder' or 'ARU' or something like that.
The most common off-the-shelf models (other than Frontier Labs' BARLTs mentioned above😊) are Open Acoustic Devices Audiomoths & Hydromoths (which may be particularly useful for you since they come in completely watertight cases that can be stuck underwater for deployments), Wildlife Acoustics' SongMeter series, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Swift units.
30 August 2022 10:10pm
Camilo--
Are you interested only in airborne sounds or do you want to deploy hydrophones? That decision would inform a lot of other decisions about your purchase of equipment, as would having a clearer picture of your budget.
23 September 2022 5:39pm
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:
SoundTraps - are very commonly used and perform quite well:
SonarPoints - these are also a great instrument option:
Senior Conservation Technology Expert Position (Consultancy) with the Global Wildlife Program
22 September 2022 5:35pm
New paper: Passive acoustic monitoring as a tool to investigate the spatial distribution of invasive alien species
21 September 2022 2:07am
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.
New paper: Evaluation of a coastal acoustic buoy for cetacean detections, bearing accuracy and exclusion zone monitoring
20 September 2022 3:00pm
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."
Evaluation of a coastal acoustic buoy for cetacean detections, bearing accuracy and exclusion zone monitoring
There is strong socio-political support for offshore wind development in US territorial waters and construction is planned off several east coast states. Some of the planned development sites coin...
New paper: Soundscapes show disruption across the diel cycle in human modified tropical landscapes
20 September 2022 2:40pm
Authors founds dawn & dusk choruses were lost/supressed in plantations, acoustic activity at dawn/dusk reduced in disturbed ecosystems compared to healthy forests.
WILDLABS Journal Club
15 September 2022 11:42am
15 September 2022 12:17pm
Ah Journal club - this was a lot of fun but a little chaotic. We've been wondering if we should bring it back with a slightly different format. ie we all agree on a paper to read before rather than bringing a mix of things to present. What does everyone think? Is anyone else keen? Is there a format you'd suggest we use?
15 September 2022 3:49pm
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 the "mix of things" that she mentioned anyways so I think that new format would be great.
Online Course – Introduction to Aquatic Acoustic Telemetry
14 September 2022 6:13pm
CFP - transnational biodiversity monitoring (from European Biodiversity Partnership)
14 September 2022 1:42pm
Join the BirdNET team!
9 September 2022 2:43pm
BOEM job openings
Postdoctoral Fellow in Soundscape Ecology at Purdue University
8 September 2022 4:12pm
Catch Up with the Variety Hour: September
6 September 2022 12:31pm
Postdoc: Noise Impacts on Marine Animals
1 September 2022 9:25pm
New paper - 'soundClass: An automatic sound classification tool for biodiversity monitoring using machine learning'
1 September 2022 8:53pm
Silva et al -
- R package to train convolutional neural networks & employ them to classify sounds
- sound event classification pipeline, from annotating recordings to automating
trained networks
- case studies with bat & whale echolocation calls, bird songs
soundClass: An automatic sound classification tool for biodiversity monitoring using machine learning
Passive acoustic monitoring, a non-invasive technique, is increasingly used to study animal populations and habitats at much larger spatial and temporal scales than standard methods. However, easy...
Solicitation of Interest: NAVFAC Atlantic Marine Resources
31 August 2022 7:28pm
Acoustics Modeler & Analyst, Marine Acoustics Inc
30 August 2022 9:45am
Conservation Technology Research Internship
26 August 2022 4:58pm
New paper: Acoustic indices as proxies for biodiversity: a meta-analysis
22 August 2022 4:03am
First seen on Diego Llusia's Twitter - https://twitter.com/DiegoLlusia/status/1561275951463415808?s=20&t=5Z-Do…
Acoustic indices as proxies for biodiversity: a meta‐analysis
As biodiversity decreases worldwide, the development of effective techniques to track changes in ecological communities becomes an urgent challenge. Together with other emerging methods in ecology, a...
Ceres Wild Rhino application
22 August 2022 1:29am
29 September 2022 4:05am
Replacement acoustic membranes for Audiomoth case
31 May 2022 2:15pm
9 June 2022 11:35am
Hi carly,
You've probably seen this already as we tagged you, but I'm dropping it here in case anyone else is having the same issue!
We used the plastic from a stronger A4 plastic folder-case taped. Don't know the type, the one we keep our fieldnotes...
— Attila D. Sandor (@adsandor) June 9, 2022
9 June 2022 1:09pm
@alex_rogers jumping in too:
@groupgetscom has the original vent fitted to the case in stock and available individually - https://t.co/IozIRPVPOS. There is also a UK-based specialist who can provide small numbers of vents - https://t.co/wrQy80Xx0I.
— Alex Rogers (@alex_rogers_cs) June 9, 2022
20 August 2022 9:49am
Alex,
which one of those
https://selectronix.co.uk/collections/waterproof-acoustic-vents
would be the appropriate for the Audiomoth case?
Agus
Do you want automated identification models made from your bird bioacoustics data?
17 August 2022 11:27am
Looking for plant and animal eco-acoustics specialists in the Alps
10 August 2022 3:01pm
10 August 2022 3:24pm
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 like this!
Steph
Catch Up with the WILDLABS Variety Hour: August
10 August 2022 11:44am
Product Grant Program
Wildlife Acoustics
9 August 2022 7:09pm
African Bioacoustics Conference 2022
5 August 2022 3:08pm
IBAC Online Symposium 2022 - Frontiers in Bioacoustics
5 August 2022 2:42pm
23 September 2022 5:26pm
Congrats on the milestone Carly and Gracie!