Evaluation of Accuracy and Precision of the Sound-Recorder-Based Point-Counts Applied in Forests and Open Areas in Two Locations Situated in a Temperate and Tropical Regions

Abstract

The point-count method is one of the most popular techniques for surveying birds. However, the accuracy and precision of this method may vary across various environments and geographical regions. We conducted sound-recorder-based point-counts to examine the accuracy and precision of the method for bird biodiversity estimation as a function of geographical region, habitat type and the time of day at which the survey began. In temperate (Poland) and tropical (Cameroon) regions, we recorded soundscapes on two successive mornings at 36 recording sites (18 in each location). At each site, we analyzed three 5-min surveys per day. We found no differences in the accuracy and precision of the method between regions and habitats. The accuracy was significantly greater at sunrise than during later surveys. The similarity of the bird assemblages detected by different surveys did not differ between regions or habitats. However, the bird communities described at the same time of day were significantly more similar to each other than those detected by surveys conducted at different times. The point-count method provided statistically indistinguishable estimates of bird biodiversity in different geographical regions and habitats. However, our results highlight two weaknesses of the method: low accuracy (41–54%), which limits the usefulness of a single survey in understanding bird–environment relationships, and changes in accuracy throughout the day, which may result in the misinterpretation of the status of bird populations.

An Efficient Method for Monitoring Birds Based on Object Detection and Multi-Object Tracking Networks

“…However, our method still has certain limitations, such as the need to improve recognition accuracy in complex backgrounds and lighting conditions. Future research could further explore how to optimize deep learning models to address these challenges, as well as integrate other auxiliary technologies (such as drones, satellite remote sensing, and bioacoustics) [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] into the bird monitoring system. Additionally, we could add more negative samples during the training phase and use image datasets generated by GAN [75] for data augmentation to improve monitoring effectiveness.…”

“…Liu Jian et al, utilized biological foot ring sensors [12]. In addition, some scholars have also employed methods such as aerial photography, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys [13][14][15][16][17][18][19], and the use of bioacoustics for bird monitoring [20][21][22][23]. Compared with traditional manual monitoring methods, these methods can improve the efficiency of bird monitoring and avoid unnecessary time waste.…”

Females occasionally create duets with males but they never sing solo-year-round singing behaviour in an Afrotropical songbird

“…The results of this study demonstrate how the use of an acoustic approach allow us to track bird breeding phenology. Moreover, the information on seasonal variation in male singing rates can be used in species monitoring, indicating the optimal time for surveys, and explaining why in some periods of the year the probability of detection of Bangwa forest warbler and other sedentary tropical bird species is low and highly variable 30 , 33 .…”

“…Significant results are in bold. www.nature.com/scientificreports/ monitoring, indicating the optimal time for surveys, and explaining why in some periods of the year the probability of detection of Bangwa forest warbler and other sedentary tropical bird species is low and highly variable 30,33 .…”

Biology Learning Content Analysis on Aves Diversity: A Case Study at Kaduberureum Biodiversity Park’s PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk, Indonesia

“…Sampling points at the study sites were shown in Figure 1. Aves biodiversity data collection used the point count method (Bibby et al, 2000;Budka et al, 2021). Point count allows an observer to stand still at one particular location (observation station) to record all the birds seen and heard for 10 minutes at each observing station.…”