IDBR (Type A): Development of app and web interface for automated anuran recognition and mapping

疾病、气候变化、污染、外来物种和栖息地丧失的协同作用，正在给世界各地的无尾两栖动物种群带来压力。在美国，虽然无尾两栖动物的总体数量明显下降，但哪些物种将受到最严重的打击是很难预测的。如果要查明种群数量进一步减少的迹象并寻求补救措施，就需要改进对无尾两栖动物种群的空间和时间监测。扩大数据覆盖面的理想方法是安装能够探测青蛙的传感器，或者让训练有素的研究人员进行调查。然而，这两种选择都是成本高昂的。收集这些数据的一个更具成本效益的方法是利用许多对无尾两栖动物的命运感兴趣的志愿者。到目前为止，限制是在训练这些志愿者识别无尾两栖动物发音方面耗时且内在可变的成功。在拟议的研究中，将使用机器学习算法和声像图的统计分析，以提供可重复的、标准化的实时呼唤无尾两栖动物识别。提出了一种使用移动设备(例如iPod、手机和平板电脑)来识别和映射无尾两栖动物的新用途。语音识别软件将作为移动设备应用程序(APP)开发。通过开发一款高效、直观的应用程序，并与相应的社交网络集成，一群潜在的志愿者可以参与绘制无尾两栖动物的丰度和范围。虽然这项提议在语音识别、连接和社交媒体方面利用了尖端技术，但其目的并不是推进这些技术的任何一个分支。相反，它以一种新颖的方式应用现有技术，将公民科学这一方面的参与度提高了一个数量级以上，并将自动语音识别的成本降低了近三个数量级(从近1000美元降至约1美元)。通过提供识别无尾两栖动物叫声的标准化手段，志愿者收集的数据质量和可靠性将得到提高。项目重要性概述青蛙和蟾蜍是栖息地质量的极好指标，不仅是它们产卵地点的指标，而且也是邻近高地的指标。由于栖息地丧失、污染和新的疾病，这些生物的数量正在经历前所未有的崩溃。由于两栖动物种群的减少可能预示着更广泛的生态问题，因此记录哪些物种受到的影响最大是很重要的。在这项拟议的研究中，将为智能手机和其他移动设备开发一款应用程序(APP)，使用尖端的语音识别软件来识别青蛙和蟾蜍。目前，进行无尾两栖动物调查的志愿者的平均年龄约为50岁。通过使用现代社交媒体和便携设备技术，这项提议的目标是吸引更年轻的受众。该系统的可负担性将使其适合课堂使用，它有可能刺激生态、物理、地理和数学的学习，因为学生考虑到该软件将生成的数据、超声波和地图。通过积极的传播，我们相信这款应用程序可以很快被数千甚至数万用户采用，其中许多人将成为公民科学的新贡献者。

A synergy of disease, climate change, pollution, exotic species and habitat loss, is pressuring anuran populations worldwide. In the USA, while overall anuran population declines are clearly evident, species that will be hardest hit are hard to predict. The spatial and temporal monitoring of anuran populations needs to be improved if the signs of further population failures are to be identified and remedies sought. The ideal means to increase the coverage of data is to put out sensors that would detect frogs, or have highly trained researchers conduct surveys. However, both these options are cost-prohibitive. A more cost-effective means to gather these data is to take advantage of the many volunteers interested in the fate of anurans. The limitation to date has been the time-consuming and inherently variable success in training those volunteers to recognize anuran vocalizations. In the proposed research, machine-learning algorithms and statistical analysis of sonograms will be used to provide reproducible, standardized identification of calling anurans in real time. A novel use of mobile devices (e.g. iPods, phones, and tablets) is proposed to identify and map anurans. The vocal recognition software will be developed as application (app) for mobile devices. By producing an efficient and intuitive app, that integrates with an accompanying social network an army of potential volunteers can be involved in mapping the abundance and range of anurans. While this proposal takes advantage of cutting-edge technology in terms of voice recognition, connectivity and social media, its purpose is not to advance any one of those branches of technology. Rather it applies existing technology in a novel way to increase participation in this aspect of citizen science by more than an order of magnitude, and bring the cost of automated voice recognition down by almost three orders of magnitude (from close to $1000 to ~$1). In providing a standardized means to recognize anuran calls, data quality and the reliability of data gathered by volunteers will be improved. General statement of project importance Frogs and toads are excellent indicators of habitat quality, not just of their spawning sites, but also of adjacent uplands. These creatures are experiencing an unprecedented collapse in populations due to habitat loss, pollution, and novel diseases. As the faltering of amphibian populations may presage wider ecological problems, it is important to document where species are most affected. In the proposed research, an application (app) will be developed for smart phones and other mobile devices that will use cutting edge voice-recognition software to identify frogs and toads. Currently the average age for volunteers conducting anuran surveys is about 50. By using modern social media and portable device technology the goal of this proposal is to engage a younger audience. The affordability of the system will make it appropriate for classroom use, and it has the potential to spur studies in ecology, physics, geography, and math, as the students consider the data, sonograms, and maps that the software will produce. Through active dissemination we believe this app could quickly be adopted by thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of users, many of whom would be new contributors to citizen science.