Developing bio-acoustic monitoring: can current challenges be overcome?

测量和监测大尺度的动物生物多样性是一项挑战，特别是对小型分类群，如无脊椎动物和那些活跃在地下的分类群。生态学的一个日益增长的趋势是利用一个地区的声音来非侵入性地监测物种：提供有关生物多样性的时空分布、丰度、群落的丰富度和组成的信息。度量（如声学复杂性）可以量化现有的声音，并将这些声音与生态系统的多样性联系起来。这项技术正在成为水生和地上温带系统的标准，主要用于鱼类、蝙蝠、鸟类和无脊椎动物，但尚未对地下和无脊椎动物进行充分探索。该项目沿着干扰梯度（主要是放牧压力）和热带草原栖息地工作，旨在通过确定这种采样方法的潜力来量化地上和地下无脊椎动物的多样性，从而推动生物声学领域的发展。新颖性和及时性虽然一些传感器已被用于探索土壤中的生物信号，但没有一个能提供可靠、经济的解决方案；目前声学用于地面监测的一个障碍。该项目将开发土壤传感器，并使用人工智能驱动的数据处理，为开发一种新的、广泛适用的技术提供潜力，以帮助保护和生物多样性的理解。探索地上、地下陆地生物声学采样和生物多样性量化的潜力。通过比较声学记录单元的生物多样性数据与野外采样和edna的生物多样性数据，确定声学多样性指数是否能反映真实的生物多样性。确定生物声学生物多样性测量在多大程度上可以检测到稀树草原栖息地的差异。在肯尼亚山周围的稀树草原景观中，博士生将与项目合作伙伴Natural State （www.naturalstate.org）密切合作，完善研究问题并开发现场抽样设计。自然国家将提供国内支持。在生态学和自然保护领域，利用声音或振动来监测生物多样性是一个日益增长的趋势。这种有前途的非侵入性监测方法有广泛的好处；它可以提供有关动物丰度、多样性和群落空间分布的数据。虽然生态声学现在通常用于评估水生和地上陆地分类群（例如，鱼类，蝙蝠，鸟类和无脊椎动物），但很少有研究将该技术应用于地下系统或无脊椎动物。通常，地下无脊椎动物取样是使用传统的野外工作技术进行的。虽然被证明是成功的，但这些方法往往耗时，昂贵，并对土壤造成干扰。本项目旨在发展生态声学监测，以量化地上和地下无脊椎动物。更具体地说，我们的目标是：(1)利用具有成本效益的传感器探索地上和地下陆地生态声学监测的潜力；(2)通过将生态声学数据与传统野外采样数据进行比较，确定生态声学指标是否能够反映真实的丰度和多样性；(3)确定利用生态声学绘制稀树草原栖息地无脊椎动物丰度和多样性的潜力。我们将与项目合作伙伴——肯尼亚山的自然状态合作，在稀树草原栖息地进行实地调查。这将使我们能够沿着干扰梯度（例如放牧压力）工作，评估碳储量与无脊椎动物生物多样性之间的关系，并探索稀树草原栖息地恢复对无脊椎动物的影响。本研究旨在支持无脊椎动物的保护工作，量化干扰、碳储存和稀树草原恢复项目对这些功能重要类群的潜在影响。

BackgroundMeasuring and monitoring faunal biodiversity across large scales is a challenge, especially for the smaller sized taxa such as invertebrates, and those active below-ground. A growing trend in ecology is to use the sounds of an area to non-invasively monitor species: providing information regarding spatial and temporal distribution of biodiversity, abundance, and the richness and composition of the community. Metrics (e.g. acoustic complexity) can quantify the sounds present and link these to diversity of the ecosystem. This technique is becoming standard in aquatic and above-ground temperate systems focussed on fish, bats, birds and anurans, but is yet to be explored fully below-ground and for invertebrates. Working along disturbance gradients (principally grazing pressure) and across savanna habitats, this project seeks to advance the field of bio-acoustics by determining the potential of this sampling approach for quantifying invertebrate diversity both above and below-ground. Novelty and TimelinessWhilst a few sensors have been used to explore biotic signals in soil, none offer a reliable, cost-effective solution; a road-block in the current utility of acoustics for ground monitoring. This project will develop soil sensors and use AI-driven data processing offering the potential to develop a novel and widely applicable technology to aid conservation and biodiversity understanding.Objectives1. Explore the potential of above and below-ground terrestrial bioacoustics sampling and biodiversity quantification.2. Determine if acoustic diversity indices can reflect true diversity by comparing biodiversity data from acoustic recording units, with that from field sampling and eDNA.3. Determine to what extent differences in savanna habitats can be detected with bioacoustics biodiversity measures.Based in the savanna landscapes surrounding Mount Kenya, the PhD student will work closely with the project CASE partner, Natural State (www.naturalstate.org), to refine the research questions and develop the field sampling design. Natural State will provide in-country support. A growing trend in ecology and conservation is the use of sounds or vibrations to monitor biodiversity. This promising non-invasive monitoring method has a wide range of benefits; it can provide data regarding animal abundance, diversity, and spatial distribution of communities. Whilst ecoacoustics is now commonly used to assess aquatic and above-ground terrestrial taxa (e.g., fish, bats, birds, and anurans), few studies have applied the technique to below-ground systems or invertebrates. Typically, below-ground invertebrate sampling is conducted using traditional fieldwork techniques. Whilst proven to be successful, these methods are often time consuming, expensive, and cause disturbance to soils. This project aims to develop ecoacoustic monitoring to quantify above- and below-ground invertebrates. More specifically our objectives are: (1) explore the potential of above- and below-ground terrestrial ecoacoustic monitoring using a cost-effective sensor; (2) determine if ecoacoustic indices can reflect true abundance and diversity by comparing ecoacoustic data to traditional field sampling; and (3) determine the potential of using ecoacoustics to map invertebrate abundance and diversity in savanna habitats. We will collaborate with the project CASE partner, Natural State in Mount Kenya to conduct our fieldwork in savanna habitats. This will allow us to work along disturbance gradients (e.g., grazing pressure), assess the relationship between carbon storage and invertebrate biodiversity, and explore the impact of savanna habitat restoration on invertebrates. This research aims to support conservation efforts of invertebrates, and quantify the potential effects of disturbance, carbon storage and savanna restoration projects on these functionally important taxa.