Do you hear what I hear? Soundscapes Along a Gradient of Urbanization in Clinton County, NY
Average rating
Cast your vote
You can rate an item by clicking the amount of stars they wish to award to this item.
When enough users have cast their vote on this item, the average rating will also be shown.
Star rating
Your vote was cast
Thank you for your feedback
Thank you for your feedback
Author
Morrow, AllisonRummell, Miranda
Beck, Samantha
Dernier, Kevin
Przedwiecki, Amelie
Bray, Cassandra
Stone, Daniel
Daly, Elizabeth
Vereline, Frank
Cluck, Hannah
Koblensky, Isabelle
Grant, Kayla
Martin, Hunter
Bliven, Kirsten
Kress, Kylie
Trombley, Luke
Bates, Madelyne
Lloyd, Timothy
Coy, Tyler
Fox, Zoe
Baran, Mark
Garneau, Danielle
Keyword
autonomous acoustic devicebiophony
anthrophony
soundscape
urbanization
birds
frogs
engines
biodiversity
urban
wetland
agriculture
golf course
urban interface
forest
microhabitat
Audiomoth
BirdNet-Analyzer
artificial intelligence
Term and Year
Fall 2024Date Published
2024-12-17
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Soundscapes are a compilation of sounds emanating from a landscape which creates an acoustic pattern across time and space. Wildlife behaviors are easily influenced by sound and can be reflected in periods of intense vocalization and silence. Urban landscapes are heavily influenced by anthrophony (human-produced sound) which can limit or enhance biophony (wildlife-produced sound). In fall 2024, the Wildlife Ecology and Management class arrayed five autonomous recording devices (AudioMoths) along an urbanization gradient (urban, urban interface, exurban golf course, rural riparia, and forested beaver pond). Audiomoths were programmed to record sound during peak hours of wildlife activity from 17:00-8:00 on two consecutive days during a warm spell. Data were downloaded and BirdNet-Analyzer was used to identify species using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms associated with eBird. Output files were appended in R Studio and soundscape patterns were analyzed across sites. Biophony richness was highest at the exurban golf course (41), followed by urban (38), beaver pond (20), rural riparia (18), and urban interface (16). The most frequent callers at the urban site were American crow, dogs, squirrels, blue jays, Canada geese, and Carolina wren. At the urban interface, Canada geese, Carolina wren, and northern cardinals were highly vocal. At the exurban golf course, spring peeper, white-throated sparrows, barred owls, American crows, hairy woodpecker, and katydids were heard as compared to the rural riparia's eastern towhees, great-horned owls, and hairy woodpeckers. In contrast, anthrophonic call frequency was high and most similar at the urban (981) and and exurban golf course (891), intermediate at the urban interface (136), followed by the beaver pond (39), and rural riparia (33) with sounds including engines, humans, and power tools. At dawn the urban, exurban golf course, and beaver pond exhibited a high biophonic call frequency, while at dusk urbanized sites experienced extremely high calling rates compared to rural sites. Urban and exurban golf course communities were the most similar (51%), while the urban interface and the beaver pond were the least (22%). Soundscape ecology is a relatively new field that is growing in popularity due to the affordability of sensors and advances in AI. Our class learned that although these technologies have numerous benefits, there is still a need to perform supplemental surveys using traditional techniques or experts should be onboarded to help better identify misidentified calls.The following license files are associated with this item:
- Creative Commons
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International