@article {58468, title = {Spatial dynamics of soundscapes and biodiversity in a semi-arid landscape}, journal = {Landscape Ecology}, year = {2022}, abstract = {

Context
Semi-arid landscapes are naturally hetero- geneous with several factors influencing this varia- tion. Fauna responses and adaptations vary in xeric environments, and the scale of observation is impor- tant. Biodiversity monitoring at several scales can be challenging, and acoustics are an alternative to this issue.

Objectives
We investigated how audible biodiver- sity is influenced by environmental factors (e.g.: veg- etation metrics, climatic variables, etc.) across a fine spatial scale, aiming to provide a better understand- ing of the variation in audible species across record- ing locations placed close together. These results will improve the current knowledge on ecoacoustics as a tool for measuring ecological processes in this biome, and better inform conservation plans.

Methods
We collected data in the semi-arid region in Queensland, Australia placing 24 recorders 200 m apart for 48 h. We also sampled environmental attributes (e.g.: temperature and vegetation structure metrics) and used acoustic indices in a time-series algorithm to categorise sound into classes. Bird spe- cies and feeding guilds were also identified.

Results We found significant differences between proximate sensors, demonstrating that soundscape differences occur across fine spatial scales. Birds and insects were the predominant biophonic sound observed and both groups were associated with shrub cover and subcanopy height. Environments with higher shrub and subcanopy cover had a higher per- centage of all birds\’ feeding guilds and insects. Sixty- three bird species were identified, including a threat- ened bird species in Queensland.

Conclusion
We show biodiversity is influenced by vegetation heterogeneity across fine spatial scales in semi-arid regions, identifying which attributes sus- tain higher levels of biodiversity activity. Our study reveals the practicality of acoustic surveys for this biodiversity monitoring by covering a large area in 48 h. However, we caution that scale is an important consideration when designing surveys.

}, keywords = {acoustic indices, biodiversity, Shrub cover, Spatial scale, Subcanopy cover, Vegetation mosaics}, author = {Marina D. A. Scarpelli and David Tucker and Brendan Doohan and Paul Roe and Susan Fuller} } @article {58071, title = {Tainacanthus ferox, a remarkable new genus and species of katydids from the high mountains of Hispaniola (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Pseudophyllinae: Polyancistrini)}, year = {2020}, abstract = {

The new genus and species of Polyancistrini katydids Tainacanthus ferox gen. nov., sp. nov. is described from specimens collected in the highest mountains of the Dominican Republic, island of Hispaniola. This is the third genus of Polyancistrini known from Hispaniola and the seventh genus of the tribe. Tainacanthus is distinctive due to the unique architecture of its pronotum, which is a large and bulbous shield with an extended metazona that covers and protects the stridulatory apparatus surrounded by a relatively small number of large and sharp spines. Additionally, all legs are armed with larger and more robust spines than those of Polyancistrus Audinet-Serville, 1831, its most likely closest relative. Tainacanthus inhabits the highest mountains of the Dominican Cordillera Central at over 2,400 m above sea level, living among hard-leaf evergreen vegetation interspersed with pine forests. The type locality is included within the Armando Berm\údez National Park, one of the most important protected areas in the Dominican Republic.

}, keywords = {biodiversity, distribution, Greater Antilles, taxonomy, Tettigonioidea, West Indies}, doi = {10.33800/nc.vi1510.33800/nc.vi15.213}, url = {http://novitatescaribaea.do/index.php/novitates/issue/view/18}, author = {Perez-Gelabert, Daniel E.} } @article {58040, title = {Acoustic Complexity Index to assess benthic biodiversity of a partially protected area in the southwest of the UK}, year = {2020}, abstract = {

The soundscape of the marine environment is a relatively understudied area of ecology that has the potential to provide large amounts of information on biodiversity, reproductive behaviour, habitat selection, spawning and predator\–prey interactions. Biodiversity is often visually assessed and used as a proxy for ecosystem health. Visual assessment using divers or remote video methods can be expensive, and limited to times of good weather and water visibility. Previous studies have concluded that acoustic measures, such as the Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI), correlate with visual biodiversity estimates and offer an alternative to assess ecosystem health.

Here, the ACI measured over 5 years in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the UK, Lyme Bay, was analysed alongside another monitoring method, Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVs). Two treatments were sampled annually in the summer from 2014 until 2018 with sites inside the MPA, as well as Open Control sites outside of the MPA.

Year by year correlations, which have been used elsewhere to test ACI, showed significant correlations with Number of Species and ACI. However, the sign of these correlations changed almost yearly, showing that more in-depth analyses are needed.

Multivariate analysis of the benthic assemblage composition (from BRUVs) was carried out by Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance (PERMANOVA) using Distance Matrices. Although not consistently correlating with univariate measures, the ACI was significantly interacting with the changing benthic assemblage composition, as it changed over time and protection (Inside vs Outside the MPA).

ACI showed potential to allude to shifting benthic communities, yet with no consistency when used alongside univariate measures of diversity. Although it is not without its own disadvantages, and thus should be developed further before implementation, the ACI could potentially reflect more complex changes to the benthos than simply the overall diversity.

}, keywords = {Acoustic Complexity Index, biodiversity, Marine Protected Area, Monitoring Tools}, doi = {10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.106019}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1470160X19310155}, author = {Davies, Bede F.R. and Attrill, Martin J. and Holmes, Luke and Rees, Adam and Witt, Matthew J. and Sheehan, Emma V.} } @article {57980, title = {Source separation in ecoacoustics: A roadmap towards versatile soundscape information retrieval}, year = {2019}, abstract = {

A comprehensive assessment of ecosystem dynamics requires the monitoring of biological, physical and social changes. Changes that cannot be observed visually may be trackable acoustically through soundscape analysis. Soundscapes vary greatly depending on geophysical events, biodiversity and human activities. However, retrieving source-specific information from geophony, biophony and anthropophony remains a challenging task, due to interference by simultaneous sound sources. Audio source separation is a technique that aims to recover individual sound sources when only mixtures are accessible. Here, we review techniques of monoaural audio source separation with the fundamental theories and assumptions behind them. Depending on the availability of prior information about the source signals, the task can be approached as a blind source separation or a model-based source separation. Most blind source separation techniques depend on assumptions about the behaviour of the source signals, and their performance may deteriorate when the assumptions fail. Model-based techniques generally do not require specific assumptions, and the models are directly learned from labelled data. With the recent advances of deep learning, the model-based techniques can yield state-of-the-art separation performance, accordingly facilitate content-based audio information retrieval. Source separation techniques have been adopted in several ecoacoustic applications to evaluate the contributions from biodiversity and anthropogenic disturbance to soundscape dynamics. They can also be employed as nonlinear filters to improve the recognition of bioacoustic signals. To effectively retrieve ecological information from soundscapes, source separation is a crucial tool. We believe that the future integrations of ecological hypotheses and deep learning can realize a high-performance source separation for ecoacoustics, and accordingly improve soundscape-based ecosystem monitoring. Therefore, we outline a roadmap for applying source separation to assist in soundscape information retrieval and hope to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration.

}, keywords = {acoustic habitat, biodiversity, ecosystem dynamics, machine learning, passive acoustics, Signal processing}, doi = {10.1002/rse2.141}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/rse2.141}, author = {Lin, Tzu-Hao and Tsao, Yu} } @article {57977, title = {A soundscape assessment of the Sasso Fratino Integral Nature Reserve in the Central Apennines, Italy}, year = {2019}, abstract = {

Ecoacoustics investigates natural and anthropogenic sounds and their relationship with the environment. It is a powerful tool for biodiversity monitoring, management and conservation and also with regards to the global climate change issue. This study, based on data collected in 2017, describes for the first time the soundscape of the Sasso Fratino Integral Nature Reserve (INR) in Italy, an area characterised by the almost absence of anthropogenic noise, where we selected three recording sites within and adjacent the reserve. We adopted a double approach: one qualitative, based on visual screening of compact daily spectrograms; the other quantitative, by generating acoustic indices. In general, all sites are characterised by quiet nights and very acoustically dense daylight hours, with a composite biophony occupying the range 1500\–9000 Hz. Moreover, the principal component analysis shows that the sites inside and outside the reserve are well differentiated and distinctly clustered, which could be due to their spatial heterogeneity and to the biophony\’s different contributions. In this case, our results agree with the recognition of sonic patterns, or sonotopes, related to the different overlapping of biotic and abiotic sonic agents. The long-term acoustic data collection allows a reference repository to be built for monitoring the INR\’s biophony status and evolution: as any human presence or intervention is currently prohibited, only external global changes could be considered as possible factors influencing any shift in the species\’ presence and distribution inside the reserve.

}, keywords = {acoustic indices, biodiversity, ecoacoustics, monitoring, National Park, sonotopes}, doi = {10.1080/14888386.2019.1696229}, url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14888386.2019.1696229}, author = {Righini, Roberta and Pavan, Gianni} } @article {57970, title = {Passive monitoring of phenological acoustic patterns reveals the sound of the camouflage grouper, Epinephelus polyphekadion}, year = {2019}, abstract = {

1. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is a non-invasive technique that uses hydro- phones to monitor populations and ecosystem dynamics. Although many applica- tions of PAM have been developed in recent years, it has never been used to identify a calling marine species.
2. ThesouthpassofFakaravaAtoll,FrenchPolynesia,hostsspawningeventsofmany reef fish species, including the camouflage grouper Epinephelus polyphekadion, with a spawning aggregation abundance exceeding 17 000 individuals during the full moons of June and July.
3. The current study aimed to use PAM to distinguish camouflage grouper sounds among the vocal activities of all fish recorded during the aggregation periods. Audio recordings analysis resulted in the identification of 29 sound types, some of which showed diel and lunar patterns.
4. Temporal analysis of these sounds in relation to spawning activities allowed the identification of camouflage grouper calls. These calls can be described as a single pulse or a series of \‘boom(s)\’ with a pulse duration of ~44 ms and a low dominant frequency of 103 \± 31 Hz. Video recordings show that the camouflage grouper pro- duces the \‘booms\’ to initialize spawner ascent and to promote synchronous gamete release into the water column.
5. The study highlights for the first time that PAM can be used to identify the previ- ously unknown sound of a fish species. Moreover, we can use it to understand the phenology of some biological activities for improving the resolution of fish bio- diversity assessments.

}, keywords = {biodiversity, coral, fish, lagoon, monitoring}, doi = {10.1002/aqc.3242}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/aqc.3242}, author = {Jublier, No{\'e}mie and Bertucci, Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric and K{\'e}ver, Lo{\"\i}c and Colleye, Orphal and Ballesta, Laurent and Nemeth, Richard S. and Lecchini, David and Rhodes, Kevin L. and Parmentier, Eric} } @article {57662, title = {A New Cryptic Species of the Adenomera andreae Clade from Southwestern Amazonia (Anura, Leptodactylidae)}, journal = {Herpetologica}, volume = {75}, year = {2019}, month = {Jan-09-2019}, pages = {233}, abstract = {

We describe a new Amazonian species of Adenomera that corresponds to one of the acoustic signals and morphs from Tambopata National Reserve (Adenomera \‘\‘Forest Call I\’\’) and to a confirmed candidate species (Adenomera sp. E) in the most recently published phylogeny for the genus. The new species is distinguished from all 19 described congeners by its unique advertisement call, consisting of a single multipulsed note, formed by 22\–35 partly fused pulses (greatest pulse number recorded for the genus among species with partly fused notes). The new species is further distinguished from most congeners in having toe tips expanded into small discs. Its distribution is associated with the Amazonian region encompassing western Brazil (state of Acre), southeastern Peru, and north-central Bolivia.

}, keywords = {Amazon rain forest, bioacoustics, biodiversity, integrative taxonomy, Leptodactylinae, Tambopata}, doi = {10.1655/D-18-00049}, url = {https://bioone.org/journals/herpetologica/volume-75/issue-3/D-18-00049/A-New-Cryptic-Species-of-the-Adenomera-andreae-Clade-from/10.1655/D-18-00049.full}, author = {Thiago R. De Carvalho and Angulo, Ariadne and Marcelo N. C. Kokubum and Barrera, Diego A. and De Souza, Mois{\'e}s B. and C{\'e}lio F. B. Haddad and Ariovaldo A. Giaretta} } @article {53388, title = {Pairing camera traps and acoustic recorders to monitor the ecological impact of human disturbance}, journal = {Global Ecology and Conservation}, volume = {16}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-10-2018}, pages = {e00493}, abstract = {

Over the past two decades, the use of camera traps and acoustic monitoring in the investigation of animal ecology have grown rapidly, with each technique enhancing broad-scale wildlife surveying. Camera traps are a cost-effective, noninvasive means of sampling communities of mid-to large-terrestrial species, and acoustic recording devices capture human sounds and sound-producing animals, including species of mammals, birds, anurans, and insects. Rarely are these techniques combined, despite the advantages of merging their respective strengths. Namely, camera traps paired with acoustic recorders can evaluate the abundance, distribution, and behavior of multiple guilds and trophic levels across landscapes while concurrently monitoring multiple human stressors in real time. Moreover, integrating these approaches enhances detection accuracy and strengthens statistical inference at multiple survey scales. We conducted a literature review, and found only 13 studies that combine camera traps and acoustic recorders, 8 of which either compared the ability of each technique to detect species of interest or discussed the advantages of each technique. We outline potential questions that can be addressed by pairing acoustic recorders and camera traps, including enabling the simultaneous assessment of noise pollution and its impacts on mammal and avian communities. Furthermore, we discuss how the analysis of data from each technique face similar challenges; thus, simultaneous innovation offers the ability to apply solutions to both techniques and amplify their respective strengths. Digital technologies and big data are changing nature conservation in increasingly profound ways and integration of camera traps and acoustic recorders will facilitate new, transformative discoveries to meet modern conservation challenges.

}, keywords = {acoustic monitoring, Anthropogenic disturbance, biodiversity, Cameras, Community structure, Inventory and monitoring, Multiple stressors}, issn = {23519894}, doi = {10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00493}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2351989418303573https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S2351989418303573?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S2351989418303573?httpAccept=text/plain}, author = {Lendrum, Patrick E. and Crooks, Kevin R. and Wittemyer, George} } @book {53385, title = {Investigation of Unsupervised Models for Biodiversity Assessment}, volume = {11320}, year = {2018}, pages = {160 - 171}, publisher = {Springer International Publishing}, organization = {Springer International Publishing}, address = {Cham}, abstract = {

Significant animal species loss has been observed in recent decades due to habitat destruction, which puts at risk environmental integrity and biodiversity. Traditional ways of assessing biodiversity are limited in terms of both time and space, and have high cost. Since the presence of animals can be indicated by sound, recently acoustic recordings have been used to estimate species richness. Bioacoustic sounds are typically recorded in habitats for several weeks, so contain a large collection of different sounds. Birds are of particular interest due to their distinctive calls and because they are useful ecological indicators. To assess biodiversity, the task of manually determining how many different types of birds are present in such a lengthy audio is really cumbersome. Towards providing an automated support to this issue, in this paper we investigate and propose a clustering based approach to assist in automated assessment of biodiversity. Our approach first estimates the number of different species and their volumes which are used for deriving a biodiversity index. Experimental results with real data indicates that our proposed approach estimates the biodiversity index value close to the ground truth.

}, keywords = {bioacoustics, biodiversity, Unsupervised model}, isbn = {978-3-030-03990-5}, issn = {0302-9743}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-03991-210.1007/978-3-030-03991-2_17}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-03991-2}, author = {KVSN Rama Rao and Garg, Saurabh and Montgomery, James}, editor = {Mitrovic, Tanja and Xue, Bing and Li, Xiaodong} } @article {50717, title = {THE INFLUENCE OF FIRE ON SALTATORIA DIVERSITY IN COASTAL HABITATS NEAR PANGANI, TANZANIA (EAST AFRICA)}, journal = {Ecotropica}, volume = {11}, year = {2005}, pages = {53-61}, chapter = {53}, abstract = {

In burnt coastal grasslands, fire-disturbed forest remnants, and undisturbed coastal forests of the Pangani area (Tanzania) 61 Saltatoria species were recorded. Comparing open-land habitats with forest and forest edge habitats, diver- sity rises in open-land habitats, as nearly 60\% of the recorded species were found within grasslands. However, the share of endemic and near-endemic species decreases, as only 5\% of the species occurring in open-land habitats were endemics, 14\% are distributed throughout East Africa, and the majority (81\%) are widespread forms. Forest and forest edge habitats, on the other hand, had 60\% endemic species, 32\% species restricted to East Africa, and only 8\% widespread Saltatoria. The majority of the coastal endemics are highly endangered by the ongoing destruction of indigenous forest. Tangana asymmetrica was one of the few coastal endemics that also occurred in fire-influenced forest remnants, while most other forest species were exclusively found in closed undisturbed forest communities of the Gendagenda forest reserve. The new record of Parepistaurus pygmaeus in the Gendagenda reserve offers an explanation of the hitherto disjunct distribution of this flightless species.

}, keywords = {biodiversity, conservation, endemism, fire influence, indigenous tropical lowland forest, Orthoptera, Saltatoria, Tanzania, tropical coastal grasslands}, author = {Claudia Hemp} } @article {47755, title = {The Orthoptera (Insecta) from Middle and Lower Prut River Basin}, journal = {Travaux du Mus?um National d?Histoire Naturelle ?Grigore Antipa?}, volume = {56}, year = {2013}, month = {Jan-01-2013}, abstract = {

The ecological preferences and bioacoustics of bush-crickets, crickets and grasshoppers species were studied in middle and lower Prut River basin, a research conducted in 55 localities from Romania and 33 localities in the Republic of Moldova. A total number of 91 species of Orthoptera were collected in the study area: 85 species encountered on the western side of Prut River basin (9 Phaneropteridae, 24 Tettigoniidae, 1 Bradyporidae, 5 Gryllidae, 1 Gryllotalpidae, 1 Tridactylidae, 5 Tetrigidae, 39 Acrididae) and 76 species found on the eastern side (7 Phaneropteridae, 19 Tettigoniidae, 1 Bradyporidae, 5 Gryllidae, 1 Gryllotalpidae, 1 Tridactylidae, 3 Tetrigidae, 39 Acrididae). Four species are recorded for the first time in the Orthoptera fauna of the Republic of Moldova: Barbitistes constrictus (Fabricius), Poecilimon fussii Brunner von Wattenwyl, Metrioptera roeselii fedtschenkoi (Saussure) and Pholidoptera frivaldskyi (Herman).

}, keywords = {acoustics, biodiversity, distribution, Orthoptera, Prut}, doi = {10.2478/travmu-2013-0012}, url = {http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/travmu.2013.56.issue-2/travmu-2013-0012/travmu-2013-0012.xmlhttps://www.degruyter.com/view/j/travmu.2013.56.issue-2/travmu-2013-0012/travmu-2013-0012.pdf}, author = {Ionut Stefan Iorgu and Elena Iulia Iorgu and Stahi, Nadejda} } @article {47337, title = {Acoustic monitoring of Orthoptera and its potential for conservation}, journal = {Journal of Insect Conservation}, volume = {2}, year = {1998}, month = {Jan-01-1998}, pages = {217 - 223}, abstract = {

Songs of Orthoptera can be used for inventorying and monitoring of individual species and communities. Acoustic parameters such as carrier frequency and pulse rates allow the definition of recognizable taxonomic units (RTUs) which help to overcome the taxonomic impediment due to our scanty knowledge, particularly of tropical faunas. Bioacoustic diversity is a first estimate for species richness and provides baseline data which can be a prerequisite for conservation. Additional ecological and behavioural information such as habitat preference and singing schedules can be inferred. Many Orthoptera are sensitive indicator species for habitat quality in temperate and tropical ecosystems. Examples are given for evaluation of habitat quality and deterioration by acoustic detection of Orthoptera.

}, keywords = {bioacoustics, biodiversity, conservation, monitoring, Orthoptera, tropical forests}, issn = {1366638X}, doi = {10.1023/A:1009695813606}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1023/A:1009695813606}, author = {Riede, Klaus} }