Ecoacoustics
Acoustic monitoring has been around for years and has been applied to noise pollution in urban areas and for biological studies of specific species. However, the use of all sound in a landscape (i.e. using soundscapes) as opposed to the sounds made by specific sources only began in the last decade.
Ecoacoustics is the study of sound recordings in relation to the environment. Within this broad field, sound can be used as the subject of the study. For example, what is the evolution of, and what are the functions and properties of sound under environmental pressures? Alternatively, ecoacoustics can be used as a tool to monitor animal diversity, abundance, behaviour, dynamics and distribution, and their relationship with ecosystems and the environment.
Applications
Passive recording is non-invasive, cost effective and avoids subjective observations in the field. The data collected from recorders can be used to investigate a multitude of research topics, for example:
- Which types of animals live in the study area?
- Do threatened species occur in the study area?
- Are there distinct patterns or changes to communities within a season?
- When can we expect migratory species to arrive at the study area?
- Is the study area changing over time?
- How healthy is the study area?
- How are human actions impacting the ecology of the study area?
- Questions about animal behaviour.
Our Services
- Threatened species detection
- Species inventory
- Understanding species behaviour and informing threatened species conservation management
- Determining the impact of discrete anthropogenic events on insectivorous bat activity
- Soundscape monitoring to meet EPBC Act approval conditions
- Statistical analysis of sound data
- Research into the use of acoustic indices for monitoring restoration areas in urban and periurban environments
- Research to understand the link between soundscapes and vegetation condition as an indicator of biodiversity and overall ecosystem health.
Contacts