Acoustic monitoring of bats, considerations of options for long-term monitoring
Keywords:
bats, detector systems, echolocation activity, acoustic monitoring, ultrasonic signalsAbstract
Acoustic recording of echolocation activity of bats is a means of monitoring bat activity or habitat use over time and space. Advances in technology permit long-term monitoring of echolocation activity relatively cheaply and there is much interest in developing acoustic monitoring protocols for long-term monitoring of bat populations. There are many challenges to using acoustic recordings for monitoring underlying changes in bat populations, but acoustic recordings can be used to evaluate changes in use and activity. There has been much recent attention and effort to develop automated species identification/classification and to make these tools available through both commercial software or free online. More work needs to be done, however, before automated species classification can be implemented for monitoring bats on continental or global scales. Here, I provide a brief overview of current popular systems for long-term echolocation monitoring and discuss some of the challenges and advantages of current acoustic monitoring systems.Key words: bats, detector systems, echolocation activity, acoustic monitoring, ultrasonic signals.References
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