A global network for monitoring the sounds of nature

The Automated Remote Biodiversity Monitoring Network (ARBIMON), along with partners from around the world, have launched a Kickstarter campaign to establish a global network of acoustic biodiversity monitoring stations.

Few people question the importance of a global network of weather stations that help humans track climate patterns, nor do they challenge the significance of daily satellite images that help us to monitor the extent of the world's forests. However, the status of fauna inside these forests has largely been ignored.

By monitoring the sounds of birds, frogs, mammals and insects, man can learn a great deal about the biodiversity of a particular location and how species' populations are changing through time. Data gained can be used to develop conservation strategies to protect and maintain biodiversity in the world's most unique ecosystems.

Over the past decade, Sieve Analytics has developed hardware and software to monitor fauna acoustically. Using only an Android phone in a waterproof case, a small solar panel, a microphone and a cellular data plan, we can monitor the acoustic activity (e.g. birds calling, frogs chirping and planes passing by) at sites around the world in real-time. This information is stored and analysed in the company's cloud-based ARBIMON II platform.

The long-term goal of this technological advance is to establish thousands of these biodiversity monitoring stations. A Kickstarter campaign was launched on 1 September to add three new stations to the global network in Costa Rica, Peru and Madagascar.

The information generated by these stations will be invaluable for science and conservation while at the same time the project will provide students, birdwatchers, naturalists and citizen scientists with an opportunity to listen to the sounds of nature from sites around the world.

To access the most recent recording from a monitoring station in Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico, please go to http://tinyurl.com/arbimon-sabana-seca.

For more information on Sieve Analytics and the ARBIMON project, please visit:

• www.sieve-analytics.com
• arbimon.sieve-analytics.com
• Twitter: @sieveAnalytics
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sieveanalytics

Support for the Kickstarter campaign would be hugely appreciated. Please consider making a contribution and sharing the project on social media platforms.