Linking soundscape to remotely sensed biodiversity indicators: which acoustic index describes best landscape configuration and ecosystem health?
Researchers and a PhD candidate from the Department of Music Technology and Acoustics of the Hellenic Mediterranean University and the Management Body of Samaria-West Crete National Park will provide data and colla. Fieldwork.
Soundscape ecology is a developing research field where interactions between sounds and the environment are studied. It is the study of sounds in the landscape (‘soundscape’) and is based on how sounds from biological, geophysical and anthropogenic sources can be used to understand natural and human systems at multiple temporal and spatial scales. (Pijanowski et al., 2011a; 2011b)
Acoustic indices are increasingly being used when analysing soundscapes to gain information on biodiversity and describe the environment. There has been considerable interest and research to develop and compute acoustic indices that represent the characteristics of the soundscape. (Fuller et al. 2015a; Gage et al., 2001; Pieretti et al., 2011; Sueur et al. 2014)
The main objective of the research is to link acoustic indices with remotely sensed indices of ecosystems health, biodiversity and landscape configuration.
External partners from the department of Hellenic Mediterranean University will record sounds in specific locations (stations) of Lefka Ori National Park in Crete. They will process acoustic data and produce acoustic indices to quantify the acoustic heterogeneity at each sampling site. Such indicators are:
1. the Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI)
2. the Acoustic Entropy Index (H)
3. the Acoustic Diversity Index (ADI)
4. the Acoustic Evenness Index (AEI)
5. the Bioacoustic Index (BI)
6. the number of peaks (NP)
7. the median of amplitude envelope (M)
8. the Normalised Difference Soundscape Index (NDSI)
9. the energy level of Biophony (BIO)
Interested students will use remote sensing to quantify ecological indicators in a radius of 500m around these stations. Unmanned Aerial Systems (drones) can be used for that purpose. The analysis will explore the relationship between the two types of information and propose methods of monitoring ecosystem health and biodiversity using ecoacoustics.
Fuller S., Axel A.C., Tucker D., Gage S.H., 2015. Connecting soundscape to landscape: Which acoustic index best describes landscape configuration? Ecological Indicators, 58 , pp. 207-215.
Gage, S. H., Napoletano, B. M., and Cooper, M. C., 2001. Assessment of Ecosystem Biodiversity by Acoustic Diversity Indices. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 109(5): 2430–2430.
Pieretti, N., A. Farina, and D. Morri., 2011. A New Methodology to Infer the Singing Activity of an Avian Community: The Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI). Ecological Indicators 11(3): 868–73.
Pijanowski, B., Farina, A., Gage, S., Dumyahn, S., Krause, B., 2011. What is soundscape ecology? An introduction and overview of an emerging new science. Landscape Ecology. 26. 1213-1232. 10.1007/s10980-011-9600-8.
Sueur J, Farina A, Gasc A et al (2014) Acoustic indices for biodiversity assessment and landscape investigation. Acta Acust. Acust. 100:772–781
The study area is a very important National Park – UNESCO biosphere reserve in Crete. The governance of Protected Areas (PAs)is critical for safeguarding rare and vulnerable ecosystems and biological diversity. A cornerstone of governance of PAs is a solid monitoring plan. M-SE students have the opportunity to focus on quantifying and linking acoustic and RS biodiversity indicators that are critical for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem health with ecoacoustics.