Evaluation of wildlife acoustic survey as a method to estimate bird habitat quality
In the world of birds, the sound says it all. The song, the alarm call, the flight call, and the call for a mate, all makes up a soundscape telling their friends and foes of their condition, mate status and tells the predator that its presence is noticed. In traditional bird monitoring our human ea...
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| Formato: | M2 |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés sueco |
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SLU/Dept. of Ecology
2020
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| Materias: |
| _version_ | 1855572698293338112 |
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| author | Ericson, Monica |
| author_browse | Ericson, Monica |
| author_facet | Ericson, Monica |
| author_sort | Ericson, Monica |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | In the world of birds, the sound says it all. The song, the alarm call, the flight call, and the call for a mate, all makes up a soundscape telling their friends and foes of their condition, mate status and tells the predator that its presence is noticed.
In traditional bird monitoring our human ears and eyes are used, with all the pros and cons that comes with the researcher being in situ. But what does the soundscapes of the birds tell us about the habitat quality? If high quality means a habitat with more complex structure, does it mean that the individuals possessing it can spend more time singing for a mate and claim its territory? And less time to call out warning for predators due to the protection the understory and canopy offers? And if so, can we draw the conclusion that their fellow species in open, lower quality habitats, spend more time warning than singing?
By comparing the results of traditional bird spotting in six sites outside Uppsala, Sweden, with the recordings of a SM4 soundscape recorder left on each site for 48 hours, it was possible to not only find which species that inhabited the site but also compare the time each species spent on singing vs the time spent on warning for each site. Part from being an ecological survey, of any behavioural difference between habitats, this project was an evaluation of the quality of the recorder SM4 as well as the software Kaleidoscope Pro from Wildlife acoustic. Findings were that the quality of the recordings were high, and that the software is capable of distinguishing between very small differences of song within species. But that the software still needs more examining to see if the issues, such as cutting phrases into far too short fragments of song, can be adjusted by the settings or if it requires more developing of the software to improve the usability of the software’s ability to cluster species. No evidence was found that the quality of the habitat makes the warning more frequent in the open habitats and the singing more consistent in the complex ones. |
| format | M2 |
| id | RepoSLU16142 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés swe |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Ecology |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Ecology |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU161422020-10-08T01:01:19Z Evaluation of wildlife acoustic survey as a method to estimate bird habitat quality Ericson, Monica birds soundscape habitat quality behavior recording Kaleidoscope Pro SongMeter4 In the world of birds, the sound says it all. The song, the alarm call, the flight call, and the call for a mate, all makes up a soundscape telling their friends and foes of their condition, mate status and tells the predator that its presence is noticed. In traditional bird monitoring our human ears and eyes are used, with all the pros and cons that comes with the researcher being in situ. But what does the soundscapes of the birds tell us about the habitat quality? If high quality means a habitat with more complex structure, does it mean that the individuals possessing it can spend more time singing for a mate and claim its territory? And less time to call out warning for predators due to the protection the understory and canopy offers? And if so, can we draw the conclusion that their fellow species in open, lower quality habitats, spend more time warning than singing? By comparing the results of traditional bird spotting in six sites outside Uppsala, Sweden, with the recordings of a SM4 soundscape recorder left on each site for 48 hours, it was possible to not only find which species that inhabited the site but also compare the time each species spent on singing vs the time spent on warning for each site. Part from being an ecological survey, of any behavioural difference between habitats, this project was an evaluation of the quality of the recorder SM4 as well as the software Kaleidoscope Pro from Wildlife acoustic. Findings were that the quality of the recordings were high, and that the software is capable of distinguishing between very small differences of song within species. But that the software still needs more examining to see if the issues, such as cutting phrases into far too short fragments of song, can be adjusted by the settings or if it requires more developing of the software to improve the usability of the software’s ability to cluster species. No evidence was found that the quality of the habitat makes the warning more frequent in the open habitats and the singing more consistent in the complex ones. Fåglarnas värld domineras av ljud. Revirhävdande sång, varningsläten, flyktläten och lockrop för en partner, allt vävs samman till den ljudbild som ger vänner och konkurrenter en uppfattning om ens kondition, förhållandestatus och upplyser predatorer om att deras närvaro är upptäckt. Inom traditionell fågelövervakning är det de mänskliga öronen och ögonen som är avgörande, med alla de för- och nackdelar som det innebär att befinna sig in situ. Men vad kan ljudbilden fåglarna skapar säga oss om kvaliteten på habitatet? Om hög kvalitet avser ett område med mer komplex struktur, innebär det att dess invånare kan tillbringa mer tid med att sjunga för att locka en partner och hävda ett territorium än att varna för predatorer eftersom undervegetation och trädkronor erbjuder en högre grad av skydd? Och går det i så fall att dra slutsatsen att deras artfränder i mer öppna habitat, av lägre kvalitet, tvingas tillbringa en större del av tiden att varna för faror än att sjunga? Genom att jämföra resultaten från traditionell fågelövervakning i sex provytor utanför Uppsala, Sverige, med inspelningar gjorda av en SM4-inspelare placerad i varje provyta i 48 timmar, var det möjligt att finna vilka arter som bebor området, men också jämföra tiden varje art tillbringar med att sjunga jämfört med att varna eller locka. Förutom att vara en ekologisk undersökning, som jämför beteendeskillnaderna mellan habitatfläckar av olika kvalitet, var detta projekt också en utvärderingsstudie i kvaliteten hos inspelningsutrustningen SongMeter4 (SM4) och mjukvaran Kaleidoscope Pro från Wildlife acoustics. Kvaliteten på ljudinspelningarna visade sig vara hög och mjukvaran har kapacitet att göra åtskillnad mellan små variationer inom samma art. Dock så konstaterades det att det krävs fler och längre studier för att undersöka om problemen, så som att mjukvaran klippte av strofer i väldigt korta fragment när den klustrade, kan åtgärdas med hjälp av inställningarna eller om det kräver vidare utveckling av mjukvaran för att den ska vara användbar i studier av arter. Inga resultat från den ekologiska undersökningen antyder att individer i habitat av lägre kvalitet skulle tillbringa mer tid med att varna för faror jämfört med att sjunga. Eller att individer i habitatfläckar av högre kvalitet skulle spendera mer tid med att sjunga än att locka och varna. SLU/Dept. of Ecology 2020 M2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/16142/ |
| spellingShingle | birds soundscape habitat quality behavior recording Kaleidoscope Pro SongMeter4 Ericson, Monica Evaluation of wildlife acoustic survey as a method to estimate bird habitat quality |
| title | Evaluation of wildlife acoustic survey as a method to estimate bird habitat quality |
| title_full | Evaluation of wildlife acoustic survey as a method to estimate bird habitat quality |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of wildlife acoustic survey as a method to estimate bird habitat quality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of wildlife acoustic survey as a method to estimate bird habitat quality |
| title_short | Evaluation of wildlife acoustic survey as a method to estimate bird habitat quality |
| title_sort | evaluation of wildlife acoustic survey as a method to estimate bird habitat quality |
| topic | birds soundscape habitat quality behavior recording Kaleidoscope Pro SongMeter4 |