Acoustic assessment of experimental reforestation in a Costa Rican rainforest

Vega-Hidalgo, Álvaro; Flatt, Eleanor; Whitworth, Andrew; Symes, Laurel B.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108413

Cited by 18 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Restored sites had marginally higher ASU than LLD sites. This result is supported by another study on ecological restoration in Costa Rica (Vega‐Hidalgo et al 2021), which finds a lower acoustic energy of broadband insects in reference sites compared to restored sites, possibly due to a robust or more diverse predator community of bats (Vega‐Hidalgo et al 2021). We speculate that our results too may be an indication of a potentially larger presence of a predatory insectivorous bird abundance (which we did not quantify) in LLD sites in comparison to restored and unrestored sites, for which there is some prior evidence from this landscape (Aravind et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

“…Based on the premise of the acoustic niche hypothesis (ANH) of ecoacoustics, it is generally inferred that degraded habitats would have fewer acoustic niches occupied in comparison to more intact habitats (Campos‐Cerqueira et al 2020; Rappaport et al 2022). However, empirical evidence, mainly from humid tropical forests, suggests that this implied linear relationship between acoustic space used (ASU) and habitat intactness may not always hold (Eldridge et al 2018; Rappaport et al 2020; Vega‐Hidalgo et al 2021). In the context of using acoustics to monitor ecological restoration, such uncertainties in previous findings present the need for more evidence on ecoacoustic from diverse geographies to better understand changes in landscapes that continue to be restored around the world.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Vega-Hidalgo et al 2021), which finds a lower acoustic energy of broadband insects in reference sites compared to restored sites, possibly due to a robust or more diverse predator community of bats(Vega-Hidalgo et al 2021). …”

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confidence: 99%

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Listening for change: quantifying the impact of ecological restoration on soundscapes in a tropical dry forest

Choksi

Kotian²,

Biniwale³

et al. 2023

Restoration Ecology

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Ecological restoration is crucial to mitigate climate change and conserve biodiversity, and accurately monitoring responses to restoration is imperative to guide current and future efforts. This study examines the impact of ecological restoration of a tropical dry forest in Central India. Here, the state forest department and a nongovernmental organization work with local communities to remove an invasive shrub, Lantana camara, in the forest, to assist natural regeneration, primarily for the purpose of improving access to forest resources for forest‐dependent people. We used acoustic technology to examine the bird community composition and the acoustic space used (ASU) across comparable restored, unrestored (with L. camara), and naturally low L. camara density (LLD) sites. We found no significant difference in the cumulative number of bird species detected between the site types (median in restored and LLD = 38, unrestored = 41). We found a significant difference in bird community composition across sites (r2 = 0.049, p ≤ 0.001). ASU differs between site types (r2 = 0.023, p ≤ 0.10), with restored sites positively associated with ASU compared to unrestored and LLD sites, which could represent a temporary increase in ASU as animal communities are reorganized after the complete removal of L. camara. Our results suggest that small‐scale restoration efforts that aim to help meet livelihood needs have the potential to contribute to ecological goals in this landscape. However, it is necessary to continue to monitor the regeneration trajectory in restored sites and the possible changes in the ASU.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Listening for change: quantifying the impact of ecological restoration on soundscapes in a tropical dry forest

Choksi

Kotian²,

Biniwale³

et al. 2023

Restoration Ecology

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“…Butler et al, 2016). Current ecoacoustics allows a suite of metrics to be extracted from recordings (Figure 1), including species richness (Towsey et al, 2014) and identification of dominant taxa (Vega‐Hidalgo et al, 2021), but also seasonal dynamics, changes in flow (Linke & Deretic, 2020), breeding events, even estimating canopy complexity by quantifying how sound from storms dissipates (Haskell, 2020). Progressive monitoring of restored sites will reveal which targets are met and which are yet to be attained, prioritising on‐ground actions to optimise recovery.…”

Section: Approach Applications and Benefits Limitations Referencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic restoration: Using soundscapes to benchmark and fast‐track recovery of ecological communities

Znidersic

Watson

2022

Ecology Letters

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We introduce a new approach-acoustic restoration-focusing on the applied utility of soundscapes for restoration, recognising the rich ecological and social values they encapsulate. Broadcasting soundscapes in disturbed areas can accelerate recolonisation of animals and the microbes and propagules they carry; long duration recordings are also ideal sources of data for benchmarking restoration initiatives and evocative engagement tools.

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“…Despite the potential of ecoacoustics to contribute to forest restoration monitoring, few studies have deployed this technology to assess above-ground faunal soundscapes in a forest restoration context (Turner et al 2018; Vega-Hidalgo et al 2021). Moreover, to our knowledge, no studies have applied ecoacoustics to measure or monitor below-ground biodiversity in a restoration context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The sound of restored soil: Measuring soil biodiversity in a forest restoration chronosequence with ecoacoustics

Robinson

Breed

Abrahams

2023

Preprint

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Forest restoration requires monitoring to assess changes in above- and below-ground communities, which is challenging due to practical and resource limitations. With emerging sound recording technologies, ecological acoustic survey methods - also known as ecoacoustics - are increasingly available. These provide a rapid, effective, and non-intrusive means of monitoring biodiversity. Above-ground ecoacoustics is increasingly widespread, but soil ecoacoustics has yet to be utilised in restoration despite its demonstrable effectiveness at detecting meso- and macrofauna acoustic signals. This study applied ecoacoustic tools and indices (Acoustic Complexity Index, Normalised Difference Soundscape Index, and Bioacoustic Index) to measure above- and below-ground biodiversity in a forest restoration chronosequence. We hypothesised that higher acoustic complexity, diversity and high-frequency to low-frequency ratio would be detected in restored forest plots. We collected n = 198 below-ground samples and n = 180 ambient and controlled samples from three recently degraded (within 10 years) and three restored (30-51 years ago) deciduous forest plots across three monthly visits. We used passive acoustic monitoring to record above-ground biological sounds and a below-ground sampling device and sound-attenuation chamber to record soil communities. We found that restored plot acoustic complexity and diversity were higher in the sound-attenuation chamber soil but not in situ or above-ground samples. Moreover, we found that restored plots had a significantly greater high-frequency to low-frequency ratio for soil, but no such association for above-ground samples. Our results suggest that ecoacoustics has the potential to monitor below-ground biodiversity, adding to the restoration ecology toolkit and supporting global ecosystem recovery.

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Acoustic assessment of experimental reforestation in a Costa Rican rainforest

Cited by 18 publications

References 36 publications

Listening for change: quantifying the impact of ecological restoration on soundscapes in a tropical dry forest

Listening for change: quantifying the impact of ecological restoration on soundscapes in a tropical dry forest

Acoustic restoration: Using soundscapes to benchmark and fast‐track recovery of ecological communities

The sound of restored soil: Measuring soil biodiversity in a forest restoration chronosequence with ecoacoustics

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