Course Overview:
This course will introduce and explain the different applications for bioacoustics to answer ecological questions. Starting with a detailed overview of the correct and most efficient methods of data collecting in the field, this course will then go on to show delegates cutting edge methods for analysing and interpreting different types of bioacoustic data.
By the end of this 5-day practical course, attendees will have the capacity to set up and deploy recording devices, download acoustic data, how to analyse this data and report the results.
Bioacoustic methods are becoming increasingly recognised as a valuable approach for ecological surveying. Bioacoustics can be used to effectively replace some current techniques whilst increasing the quality of the data collected or can be used in unison to compliment them. They are particularly useful for developing long-term, permanent datasets that can be independently reviewed, particularly for rare species with low detectability, or when working in difficult environments.
The course will provide a practical introduction to bioacoustics methods, with a mix of lectures and practical workshops, and some optional fieldwork. It will start with a basic introduction to sound and recording theory, before developing hands-on skills in setting-up and deploying a range of acoustic and ultrasonic audio recorders. Workshops will then cover the download and analysis of audio data, mainly using Kaleidoscope Pro and Audacity software. The processed audio data will then be analysed and presented using R, the free software environment for statistical computing and graphics (http://www.r-project.org/).
Example data sets will mostly cover applications for bat and bird surveys, as well as the use of Acoustic Indices as biodiversity metrics. If you are working in different areas of ecology using bioacoustics please feel free to contact oliverhooker@prstatistics.com so we can advise if the learning outcomes are transferable to your field of research.
Tuesday 22nd Classes from 09:30 – 17:30
SESSION 1 – INTRO TO ACOUSTIC DATA (AND METADATA)
Acoustic Data and Metadata – what does it look like?
Data sources – survey methods/approaches, recorder hardware, file types etc
Metadata recording and systems
Case study examples – terrestrial & freshwater (& marine)
Introduction to audio software – for species ID and vocalizations
Analysis tools for acoustic data
Software tools – Kaleidoscope, Audacity, R (others: Raven/Lite, Batscan, Batsound, Batscope, iBatsID, Analook, SonoChiro, Sonobat, Luscinia, BirdNet, MATLAB, PAMGUARD, etc)
Viewing/listening/measuring, recognizers, clustering
Manual and automated call detection and ID methods
Limitations and emerging opportunities in acoustic data analysis
Workshop – sound editing, measuring and management using Audacity
SESSION 2 – ANALYSING BAT DATA USING KALEIDOSCOPE
Workshop –Kaleidoscope bat ID processing (Paul H-L)
Wednesday 23rd – Classes from 09:30 – 17:30
SESSION 3 – ANALYSING ACOUSTIC DATA USING R
Workshop – R (Seewave/Soundecology) (creat/view/analyse spectrograms)
SESSION 4 – INTERPRETING ACOUSTIC DATA
Data collation, analysis and interpretation
Moving from sound to data to meaning (creating tidy data/metadata and using this)
Data and recognizer quality – false positives/negatives and validating auto-IDs…
Presence/absence
Activity levels
Distribution
Temporal changes
Population assessments/occupancy
Localizing calls with amplitude levels or microphone arrays
Identifying individuals
Mention of Soundscapes and Acoustic indices – more on this later
Soundscapes and Acoustic indices
What different indices
Pros and cons of each
Using and comparing scores
Example workflows from previous studies
Carlos capercaillie and TBH work
BCT/CIEEM guidance on call assessment
Other published research and recommendations
Bioacoustics for ecologists: Hardware, Survey design and Data analysis (BIAC02)
https://www.prstatistics.com/course/bioacoustics-for-ecologists-hardware-survey-design-and-data-analysis-biac02/
Please feel free to share!
22nd - 24th March 2022
Course Overview:
This course will introduce and explain the different applications for bioacoustics to answer ecological questions. Starting with a detailed overview of the correct and most efficient methods of data collecting in the field, this course will then go on to show delegates cutting edge methods for analysing and interpreting different types of bioacoustic data.
By the end of this 5-day practical course, attendees will have the capacity to set up and deploy recording devices, download acoustic data, how to analyse this data and report the results.
Bioacoustic methods are becoming increasingly recognised as a valuable approach for ecological surveying. Bioacoustics can be used to effectively replace some current techniques whilst increasing the quality of the data collected or can be used in unison to compliment them. They are particularly useful for developing long-term, permanent datasets that can be independently reviewed, particularly for rare species with low detectability, or when working in difficult environments.
The course will provide a practical introduction to bioacoustics methods, with a mix of lectures and practical workshops, and some optional fieldwork. It will start with a basic introduction to sound and recording theory, before developing hands-on skills in setting-up and deploying a range of acoustic and ultrasonic audio recorders. Workshops will then cover the download and analysis of audio data, mainly using Kaleidoscope Pro and Audacity software. The processed audio data will then be analysed and presented using R, the free software environment for statistical computing and graphics (http://www.r-project.org/).
Example data sets will mostly cover applications for bat and bird surveys, as well as the use of Acoustic Indices as biodiversity metrics. If you are working in different areas of ecology using bioacoustics please feel free to contact oliverhooker@prstatistics.com so we can advise if the learning outcomes are transferable to your field of research.
Tuesday 22nd Classes from 09:30 – 17:30
SESSION 1 – INTRO TO ACOUSTIC DATA (AND METADATA)
Data sources – survey methods/approaches, recorder hardware, file types etc
Metadata recording and systems
Case study examples – terrestrial & freshwater (& marine)
Visualizing sound – understanding spectrograms, identifying species
Bats – peakfreq, IPI, max, min, duration, shape etc..
Birds – Nathan Pieplow keys – time/frequency characteristics, song/call shapes
Measuring parameters manually and programatically
Analysis tools for acoustic data
Software tools – Kaleidoscope, Audacity, R (others: Raven/Lite, Batscan, Batsound, Batscope, iBatsID, Analook, SonoChiro, Sonobat, Luscinia, BirdNet, MATLAB, PAMGUARD, etc)
Viewing/listening/measuring, recognizers, clustering
Manual and automated call detection and ID methods
Limitations and emerging opportunities in acoustic data analysis
SESSION 2 – ANALYSING BAT DATA USING KALEIDOSCOPE
Wednesday 23rd – Classes from 09:30 – 17:30
SESSION 3 – ANALYSING ACOUSTIC DATA USING R
SESSION 4 – INTERPRETING ACOUSTIC DATA
Moving from sound to data to meaning (creating tidy data/metadata and using this)
Data and recognizer quality – false positives/negatives and validating auto-IDs…
Presence/absence
Activity levels
Distribution
Temporal changes
Population assessments/occupancy
Localizing calls with amplitude levels or microphone arrays
Identifying individuals
Mention of Soundscapes and Acoustic indices – more on this later
What different indices
Pros and cons of each
Using and comparing scores
Carlos capercaillie and TBH work
BCT/CIEEM guidance on call assessment
Other published research and recommendations
Thursday 24th – Classes from 09:30 – 17:30
SESSION 5 –ACOUSTIC INDICES USING R/KALEIDOSCOPE
SESSION 6 –SPATIAL ACOUSTIC DATA AND COURSE ROUND-UP
EMtouch kml output – Google Earth
CSV output
Spatial analysis with R