Sensor Arrays for Acoustic Monitoring of Bird Behavior and Diversity

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This award supports the development of robust and adaptable sensor arrays and related software for observing and analyzing bird diversity and behavior. Birds have been selected as the test group for this work because of their importance in biodiversity, and because they are well-characterized with regard to the properties that will be explored (i.e. bird vocalizations). This project will make use of existing sensor arrays developed by the UCLA Center for Embedded Sensing (CENS).The work will be performed in laboratories at UCLA and at several field sites: (1) the UCRiverside James Reserve, near Idyllwild, CA. - a heavily instrumented field site with full-time specialists on sensor arrays. Here, methods will be initially tested, then deployed to either (2) the Hastings Reserve, near Monterey CA, where acorn woodpeckers have been marked and studied. The sensor arrays will be used to identify individual woodpeckers, locate them, and to identify patterns in their behavior associated with the approximately 10 calls they employ. Arrays will also be deployed to (3) the Montes Azules Biodiversity Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico, which has a rich diversity of bird species in a tropical rainforest. Here, the sensor arrays will be developed to identify and locate different bird species in the region. The sensor arrays, software, and methodology developed by this project will serve a severe need to assay biodiversity in ecosystems. The tools needed to remotely sense, record and automatically analyze acoustical behavior will be enormously helpful for studies of ecology, biodiversity and behavior.