The soundtrack of southwest wildlife

Passive acoustic monitoring -- or monitoring that uses devices that record and store wildlife sounds followed by analysis of those sounds -- can reliably detect many species of management interest across broad landscapes, offering a scalable approach for monitoring change. This technology can also give researchers essential baseline data for refining algorithms for species identification and designing regional monitoring efforts. Across the Southwestern U.S, passive acoustic monitoring has proven to be a highly effective method for detecting wildlife.

Scientists conducted a pilot study using passive acoustic monitoring devices and BirdNET, an algorithm that can identify birds from acoustic data. This project is testing large‑scale passive acoustic monitoring feasibility across multiple Southwestern forest ecosystems and provides species‑specific insights, including detections of several high‑priority management species, giving both managers and researchers practical, real‑world evidence of the value of passive acoustic monitoring. 

BirdNET alone identified at least 52 species from over 51,000 hours of audio. In this study, scientists have detected 93 species overall, including several species of high management interest. The results highlight passive acoustic monitoring's strong potential for building a regional program capable of tracking species and community trends across broad spatial scales.

Passive acoustic monitoring is 50 percent more efficient than traditional monitoring methods in monitoring species of management interest and overall biodiversity, which can increase survey efficiency and reduce labor costs for monitoring wildlife. Looking forward, researchers are creating a passive acoustic monitoring study design optimization framework, logistics for regional monitoring, and cost analysis for a regional monitoring program.