As part of our ongoing work to harmonise biodiversity monitoring across Europe, Biodiversa+ is hosting a series of experience-sharing sessions featuring partners and experts on best practices.
This session focuses on the challenges and opportunities of scaling up bioacoustic monitoring efforts. Experts Carlos Abrahams (Baker Consultants) and Jamie Alison (University of Aarhus, AMBS pilot coordinator) discuss the need for better guidelines, the challenges of scaling up monitoring, and the role of technology and human validation.
Some takeaways
- Carlos Abrahams emphasised the gap between the rapid advancement of eco-acoustics research and its practical application in conservation, highlighting the need for standardised, accessible guidelines. He stressed the potential of bioacoustics for monitoring diverse species, from birds and bats to less-studied groups like amphibians and aquatic invertebrates, and the advantages of passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) for understanding species behaviour, distribution, and population trends. He concluded that realising bioacoustics’ full potential depends on developing and disseminating robust, practical guidance for its implementation.
- Jamie Alison described the challenges of scaling up acoustic monitoring through the Biodiversa+ Automated Biodiversity Monitoring Stations (ABMS) pilot, a transnational effort to create standardised, scalable solutions for biodiversity data gaps. He highlighted the importance of strategic sensor selection and deployment, ensuring device reliability, and maintaining data consistency across a large network. The ABMS project leverages AI and machine learning, but Alison stressed that human oversight and validation remain essential for ensuring data accuracy and handling model errors.