Continental scale acoustic monitoring program: One year of data

A multiyear project is underway to demonstrate the benefits of incorporating acoustic monitoring into the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The NEON project seeks to generate data for the study of continental scale phenomena. Acoustic recordings can be used to determine the presence of acoustically active biota without the presence of field technicians. We have deployed stand-alone acoustic recorders at four NEON sites. Data from these recorders can be used to document spatio-temporal shifts in the presence of acoustically active species of birds, anurans, and insects. Amplitude, frequency band energy, and statistical detection methods have been compared to demonstrate the implementation of automated detection algorithms. Results from acoustic biota surveys are compared with traditional biota surveys. Comparisons of the relative contributions of acoustic energy from geophysical, biotic, and anthropogenic sources within and between sites will be examined. Preliminary results from the first ye...