@article {57931, title = {It{\textquoteright}s time to listen: there is much to be learned from the sounds of tropical ecosystems}, year = {2018}, abstract = {

Knowledge that can be gained from acoustic data collection in tropical ecosystems is low-hanging fruit. There is every reason to recordand with every day, there are fewer excuses not to do it. In recent years, the cost of acoustic recorders has decreased substantially(some can be purchased for under US$50, e.g., Hillet\  al.2018) and the technology needed to store and analyze acoustic data is contin-uously improving (e.g., Corrada Bravoet\  al.2017, Xieet\  al.2017). Soundscape recordings provide a permanent record of a site at agiven time and contain a wealth of invaluable and irreplaceable information. Although challenges remain, failure to collect acoustic datanow in tropical ecosystems would represent a failure to future generations of tropical researchers and the citizens that benefit fromecological research. In this commentary, we (1) argue for the need to increase acoustic monitoring in tropical systems; (2) describe thetypes of research questions and conservation issues that can be addressed with passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) using both short-and long-term data in terrestrial and freshwater habitats; and (3) present an initial plan for establishing a global repository of tropical recordings.

}, keywords = {conservation technology, ecoacoustics, passive acoustic monitoring, Soundscape}, doi = {10.1111/btp.12593}, url = {http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/btp.12593}, author = {Jessica L. Deichmann and Acevedo-Charry, Orlando and Barclay, Leah and Burivalova, Zuzana and Campos-Cerqueira, Marconi and d{\textquoteright}Horta, Fernando and Game, Edward T. and Gottesman, Benjamin L. and Hart, Patrick J. and Kalan, Ammie K. and Linke, Simon and Nascimento, Leandro Do and Bryan C. Pijanowski and Staaterman, Erica and T. Mitchell Aide} } @article {53057, title = {Species Richness (of Insects) Drives the Use of Acoustic Space in the Tropics}, journal = {Remote Sensing}, volume = {9}, year = {2017}, month = {Jan-11-2017}, pages = {1096}, abstract = {

Acoustic ecology, or ecoacoustics, is a growing field that uses sound as a tool to evaluate animal communities. In this manuscript, we evaluate recordings from eight tropical forest sites that vary in species richness, from a relatively low diversity Caribbean forest to a megadiverse Amazonian forest, with the goal of understanding the relationship between acoustic space use (ASU) and species diversity across different taxonomic groups. For each site, we determined the acoustic morphospecies richness and composition of the biophony, and we used a global biodiversity dataset to estimate the regional richness of birds. Here, we demonstrate how detailed information on activity patterns of the acoustic community (\<22 kHz) can easily be visualized and ASU determined by aggregating recordings collected over relatively short periods (4\–13 days). We show a strong positive relationship between ASU and regional and acoustic morphospecies richness. Premontane forest sites had the highest ASU and the highest species richness, while dry forest and montane sites had lower ASU and lower species richness. Furthermore, we show that insect richness was the best predictor of variation in total ASU, and that insect richness was proportionally greater at high-diversity sites. In addition, insects used a broad range of frequencies, including high frequencies (\>8000 Hz), which contributed to greater ASU. This novel approach for analyzing the presence and acoustic activity of multiple taxonomic groups contributes to our understanding of ecological community dynamics and provides a useful tool for monitoring species in the context of restoration ecology, climate change and conservation biology.

}, keywords = {amphibians, ARBIMON, Biodiversity monitoring, birds, community ecology, insects, passive acoustic monitoring, rapid assessments, Soundscape, species richness}, doi = {10.3390/rs9111096}, url = {http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/9/11/1096}, author = {T. Mitchell Aide and Hern{\'a}ndez-Serna, Andres and Campos-Cerqueira, Marconi and Acevedo-Charry, Orlando and Jessica L. Deichmann} } @article {52599, title = {Changes in the acoustic structure and composition along a tropical elevational gradient }, journal = {Journal of Ecoacoustics}, volume = {1}, year = {2017}, month = {Sep-24-20172070}, pages = {PNCO7I}, abstract = {

Elevational gradients influence the distribution and composition of animal species and can provide useful information for the development of conservation strategies in the context of climate change. Despite an increase in studies of species diversity along elevational gradients, there is still a lack of information about community responses to environmental gradients, in part because of the logistical limitations of sampling multiple taxa simultaneously. One solution is to use passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) to acquire and analyze information from different animal taxa simultaneously along an entire elevational gradient. To improve our understanding of how environmental gradients influence patterns of animal communities and to test the relationship between soundscapes and animal composition we investigated how variation in bird and anuran composition affect the acoustic structure and composition of the soundscapes along an elevation gradient. We used PAM deploying portable acoustic recorders along three elevational transects in the Luquillo Mountains (LM), Puerto Rico. We found that elevation plays a major role in structuring the acoustic community and that the soundscape composition reflected the same patterns of anuran and bird distribution and composition along the elevational gradient. This study shows how different animal taxa respond to environmental gradients and provide strong evidence for the use of soundscapes as a tool to describe and compare species distribution and composition across large spatial scales.

}, doi = {10.22261/JEA10.22261/JEA.PNCO7I}, author = {Campos-Cerqueira, Marconi and T. Mitchell Aide} } @article {51471, title = {Species Richness (of Insects) Drives the Use of Acoustic Space in the Tropics}, journal = {Remote Sensing}, volume = {9}, year = {2017}, month = {Jan-11-2017}, pages = {1096}, abstract = {

Acoustic ecology, or ecoacoustics, is a growing field that uses sound as a tool to evaluate animal communities. In this manuscript, we evaluate recordings from eight tropical forest sites that vary in species richness, from a relatively low diversity Caribbean forest to a megadiverse Amazonian forest, with the goal of understanding the relationship between acoustic space use (ASU) and species diversity across different taxonomic groups. For each site, we determined the acoustic morphospecies richness and composition of the biophony, and we used a global biodiversity dataset to estimate the regional richness of birds. Here, we demonstrate how detailed information on activity patterns of the acoustic community (\<22 kHz) can easily be visualized and ASU determined by aggregating recordings collected over relatively short periods (4\–13 days). We show a strong positive relationship between ASU and regional and acoustic morphospecies richness. Premontane forest sites had the highest ASU and the highest species richness, while dry forest and montane sites had lower ASU and lower species richness. Furthermore, we show that insect richness was the best predictor of variation in total ASU, and that insect richness was proportionally greater at high-diversity sites. In addition, insects used a broad range of frequencies, including high frequencies (\>8000 Hz), which contributed to greater ASU. This novel approach for analyzing the presence and acoustic activity of multiple taxonomic groups contributes to our understanding of ecological community dynamics and provides a useful tool for monitoring species in the context of restoration ecology, climate change and conservation biology.

}, keywords = {amphibians, ARBIMON, Biodiversity monitoring, birds, community ecology, insects, passive acoustic monitoring, rapid assessments, soundscapes, species richness}, doi = {10.3390/rs9111096}, url = {http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/9/11/1096}, author = {T. Mitchell Aide and Hern{\'a}ndez-Serna, Andres and Campos-Cerqueira, Marconi and Acevedo-Charry, Orlando and Jessica L. Deichmann} }