“It’s a generic system to monitor biodiversity.”
That is Mitchell Aide of the University of Puerto Rico. He is one of the leaders of the ARBIMON team. They hope the software program will help environmentalists study creatures worldwide.
“The software is set up for the user to use it for whatever species they’re interested in. It could be snapping shrimp, or whales, or it could be frogs or insects or monkeys.”
Researchers place small, low-cost recording equipment in the rainforest. The equipment makes a recording every 10 minutes. The recordings are sent immediately to a central computer.
The scientists direct the computer to recognize the sounds of different animals. They then use the software program to examine tens of thousands of recordings in less than an hour. The software can identify which animals are in the rainforest and which are not. It can also show which ones are making sounds when, and which are not.
For example, when researchers studied five years of recordings from Puerto Rico, they found that the Plains Coqui called less and less over four years. This could have been evidence that the frogs were in danger. But in the fifth year, the frog sounds returned to earlier levels. This information about what appears to be the frog population’s natural rhythm would not have been available without a long-term study.
The team now has recording stations in Hawaii, Arizona, Costa Rica, Brazil and other places. Mitchell Aide says that over months, or even years, scientists can build a “sound picture” of the area and what lives there.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25