SAFE Acoustics: an open-source, real-time eco-acoustic monitoring network in the tropical rainforests of Borneo
File(s)2041-210X.13438(1).pdf (765.55 KB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
1. Automated monitoring approaches offer an avenue to unlocking large‐scale insight into how ecosystems respond to human pressures. However, since data collection and data analyses are often treated independently, there are currently no open‐source examples of end‐to‐end, real‐time ecological monitoring networks.
2. Here, we present the complete implementation of an autonomous acoustic monitoring network deployed in the tropical rainforests of Borneo. Real‐time audio is uploaded remotely from the field, indexed by a central database, and delivered via an API to a public‐facing website.
3. We provide the open‐source code and design of our monitoring devices, the central web2py database, and the ReactJS website. Furthermore, we demonstrate an extension of this infrastructure to deliver real‐time analyses of the eco‐acoustic data.
4. By detailing a fully functional, open source, and extensively tested design, our work will accelerate the rate at which fully autonomous monitoring networks mature from technological curiosities, and towards genuinely impactful tools in ecology.
2. Here, we present the complete implementation of an autonomous acoustic monitoring network deployed in the tropical rainforests of Borneo. Real‐time audio is uploaded remotely from the field, indexed by a central database, and delivered via an API to a public‐facing website.
3. We provide the open‐source code and design of our monitoring devices, the central web2py database, and the ReactJS website. Furthermore, we demonstrate an extension of this infrastructure to deliver real‐time analyses of the eco‐acoustic data.
4. By detailing a fully functional, open source, and extensively tested design, our work will accelerate the rate at which fully autonomous monitoring networks mature from technological curiosities, and towards genuinely impactful tools in ecology.
Date Issued
2020-10-01
Date Acceptance
2020-06-02
Citation
Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2020, 11 (10), pp.1182-1185
ISSN
2041-210X
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
1182
End Page
1185
Journal / Book Title
Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Volume
11
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Authors. Methods in Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Sponsor
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Rainforest Research Sdn Bhd
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Grant Number
UCL Ref: 542177
LBEE_P34395
NE/L012456/1
EP/N014529/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Ecology
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
applied ecology
bioinformatics
community ecology
conservation
monitoring (community ecology)
monitoring (population ecology)
software
surveys
0502 Environmental Science and Management
0602 Ecology
0603 Evolutionary Biology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-06-24