Effectiveness of acoustic indices as indicators of vertebrate biodiversity

Allen‐Ankins, Slade; McKnight, Donald T.; Nordberg, Eric J.; Hoefer, Sebastian; Roe, Paul; Watson, David M.; McDonald, Paul G.; Fuller, Richard A.; Schwarzkopf, Lin

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.109937

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…R ² = 0.62), good explanatory power for richness of old-growth species and nocturnal insect composition, but low explanatory power for total vertebrate richness (Table 1 ). Our findings add to the growing literature that shows that using a set of acoustic indices instead of single ones is better for estimating biodiversity 50 .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 69%

Soundscapes and deep learning enable tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests

Müller,

Mitesser,

Schaefer

et al. 2023

Nat Commun

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Tropical forest recovery is fundamental to addressing the intertwined climate and biodiversity loss crises. While regenerating trees sequester carbon relatively quickly, the pace of biodiversity recovery remains contentious. Here, we use bioacoustics and metabarcoding to measure forest recovery post-agriculture in a global biodiversity hotspot in Ecuador. We show that the community composition, and not species richness, of vocalizing vertebrates identified by experts reflects the restoration gradient. Two automated measures – an acoustic index model and a bird community composition derived from an independently developed Convolutional Neural Network - correlated well with restoration (adj-R² = 0.62 and 0.69, respectively). Importantly, both measures reflected composition of non-vocalizing nocturnal insects identified via metabarcoding. We show that such automated monitoring tools, based on new technologies, can effectively monitor the success of forest recovery, using robust and reproducible data.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 69%

Soundscapes and deep learning enable tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests

Müller,

Mitesser,

Schaefer

et al. 2023

Nat Commun

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“…Despite a much higher concentration of A2O sites in the eastern states of Australia, there is still potential to monitor critically endangered species in all states except the Northern Territory (Figure 1b). In addition, some of the species we list as possibly detectable in recordings, have already been incidentally detected in the audio data for six sites where we are conducting on‐ground surveys, which are Rinyurru, Undara, Wambiana, Mourachan, Duval and Tarcutta (Allen‐Ankins et al, 2023). Using monitoR templates (Katz et al, 2016), we have detected koalas ( Phascolarctos cinereus ; Mt.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the observatory was designed to sample broadly, in moderately pristine habitats, a representative sample of Australia's six largest ecoregions (https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs/science/ibra/australias-ecoregions), and the purpose of the observatory is to provide data and monitor fauna in general, for example to detect declines and movements of common species, and to allow for a range of other kinds of studies of vocal animal biology (Roe et al, 2021), the A2O may also aid in conservation of endangered species. The observatory has already detected several threatened species in several locations, specifically in areas where these detections were verified by visual observations, where we are carrying out ground‐truthing biodiversity surveys, and thus in locations where we were specifically searching the data for species based on both species distributions and observations (Allen‐Ankins et al, 2023). Targeted screening of data by creation and use of supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms, or using citizen science or combinations of these techniques, and other focussed study designed to search all sites for calls will reveal other species at other sites, and the efficacy and efficiency of automated acoustic analysis tools is only growing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Can an acoustic observatory contribute to the conservation of threatened species?

et al. 2023

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Observatories are designed to collect data for a range of uses. The Australian Acoustic Observatory (A2O) was established to collect environmental sound, including audible species calls, from 344 recorders at 86 sites around Australia. We examine the potential of the A2O to monitor near threatened, threatened, endangered and critically endangered species, based on their vocal behaviour, geographic distributions in relation to the sites of the A2O and on some knowledge of habitat use. Using IUCN and EPBC lists of threatened and endangered species, we extracted species that vocalized in the audible range, and using conservative estimates of their geographic ranges, determined whether there was a possibility of hearing them at these sites. We found that it may be possible to detect up to 171 threatened species at sites established for the A2O, and that individual sites have the potential to detect up to 40 threatened species. All 86 sites occurred in locations where threatened species could possibly be detected, and the list of detectable species included birds, amphibians, and mammals. We have incidentally detected one mammal and four bird species in the data during other work. Threatening processes to which potentially detectable species were exposed included all but two IUCN threat categories. We concluded that with applications of technology to search the audio data from the A2O, it could serve as an important tool for monitoring threatened species.

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“…Wider testing has demonstrated that associating acoustic indices with biodiversity metrics, such as species richness, diversity or abundance, is not straightforward. There has been some success in linking acoustic indices to the presence of individual species (Brodie et al, 2022; Papin et al, 2019; Towsey et al, 2018; Znidersic et al, 2020), or to broader taxon richness (Allen‐Ankins et al, 2023; Bradfer‐Lawrence et al, 2020; Dröge et al, 2021; Roca & Van Opzeeland, 2020). However, there are contradictory patterns reported in the literature.…”

Section: Identifying Your Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using acoustic indices in ecology: Guidance on study design, analyses and interpretation

et al. 2023

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The rise of passive acoustic monitoring and the rapid growth in large audio datasets is driving the development of analysis methods that allow ecological inferences to be drawn from acoustic data. Acoustic indices are currently one of the most widely applied tools in ecoacoustics. These numerical summaries of the sound energy contained in digital audio recordings are relatively straightforward and fast to calculate but can be challenging to interpret. Misapplication and misinterpretation have produced conflicting results and led some to question their value. To encourage better use of acoustic indices, we provide nine points of guidance to support good study design, analysis and interpretation. We offer practical recommendations for the use of acoustic indices in the study of both whole soundscapes and individual taxa and species, and point to emerging trends in ecoacoustic analysis. In particular, we highlight the critical importance of understanding the links between soundscape patterns and acoustic indices. Acoustic indices can offer insights into the state of organisms, populations, and ecosystems, complementing other ecological research techniques. Judicious selection, appropriate application and thorough interpretation of existing indices is vital to bolster robust developments in ecoacoustics for biodiversity monitoring, conservation and future research.

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Effectiveness of acoustic indices as indicators of vertebrate biodiversity

Cited by 18 publications

References 48 publications

Soundscapes and deep learning enable tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests

Soundscapes and deep learning enable tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests

Can an acoustic observatory contribute to the conservation of threatened species?

Using acoustic indices in ecology: Guidance on study design, analyses and interpretation

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