2017 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
21st Century monitoring tools to make Okinawa a natural laboratory for ecology and evolution
| Project/Area Number |
17K15178
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
ライアンフリードマン ニコラス 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 生物多様性・複雑性研究ユニット, 研究員 (50795309)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2017-04-01 – 2019-03-31
|
| Keywords | Soundscape / Bioacoustics / Biodiversity / Animal Behavior / Remote Sensing |
|---|
| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The purpose of this project is to (1) develop an acoustic monitoring network for Okinawa, (2) develop the tools necessary to use this network to test ecological hypotheses, and (3) to apply this network to increase our understanding of important of different factors in determining the spatial distribution of biodiversity. The development and installation of an acoustic monitoring network on Okinawa (1) has been completed. This network features passive monitoring devices at 24 long-term locations in Okinawa, collecting 1TB of audio data every week. Technical advances have accelerated the pace of analytical tool development (2). I published the results of a proof-of-concept study demonstrating the applicability of these computational tools (Ross, Friedman et al. 2017 Ecological Research).
|
| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The acoustic monitoring network has been installed successfully, and geographic data has been extracted for each site. The development of analytical tools progressed much more smoothly than initially planned, due to advances in machine learning technology. However, this computational advance was balanced by a bottleneck in the human observer time needed to train species detection models. My project is ahead of schedule, but not as far ahead as it could be with additional staff. To offset this issue, I am inviting local volunteers to assist in species identification and model training.
|
| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
In the next stage of this research, I will use the first year of soundscape data I collected to test the relationship between ecological predictors (abiotic, biotic, and human) and animal biodiversity. The first round of these analyses will be focused on developing papers that focus on (1) the spatial distribution of soundscapes and their biotic and anthropogenic components and how these are influenced by habitat and human activity; (2) the temporal stability of soundscapes and how these are influenced by human activity. This research has also lead to ripple effects in society: I am currently developing a museum exhibit on Okinawa’s soundscapes for the Okinawa City museum and the Manko Waterbird Center. These efforts are aimed at communicating with the local public about science.
|
| Causes of Carryover |
The initial installation of the acoustic monitoring network was accomplished with matching Kakenhi and institutional funds. This allowed the retention of a portion of FY 2017’s funding for use in FY 2018. The plan for using this funding is to maintain the monitoring network system through the purchase of recording units, rechargeable batteries, and high-capacity memory cards to support and extend the existing network.
|
