How effectively can we monitor bird diversity using acoustic recordings?

Theme: Biodiversity and conservation science, Ecology genetics and evolution, Environmental management

Description: 

Improving biodiversity outcomes requires that we be able to effectively monitor changes (and hopefully increases) in biodiversity over time. This requirement is now being enshrined in law with new sustainability reporting requirements for corporations emerging in many jurisdictions. However, monitoring is typically time- and labour- intensive, which means that there is an urgent need to develop cost-effective solutions for monitoring biodiversity. In this project you will compare direct observations of bird diversity with acoustic recordings of bird (and other animal) calls in the same locations to quantify the effectiveness of remotely monitored bird biodiversity. This work will focus on data collected on birds occurring in cocoa agroforests in West Africa, and will be part of a larger project assessing the costs and benefits of agroforests for meeting agricultural, biodiversity, and climate goals.

Additional Information: 

This project will be desktop-based research using existing data, and will likely suit students with some interest in quantitative skills and coding.
For information about who we are and what we do in the HartLab please see: hartlab-ecology.com
Please contact Simon Hart for more information.

Contact: Dr Simon Hart