Assessing Bird Diversity in the Saltese Uplands Conservation Area Using Bioacoustic Monitoring and Cluster Analysis
Faculty Sponsor
Methea Sapp
Methea.Sapp@scc.spokane.edu
Session Type
Poster Presentation
Research Project Abstract
This pilot study aims to compare population densities of bird species between two ecologically distinct locations within the Saltese Uplands Conservation Area by applying statistical classification and cluster analysis to large samples of acoustic recordings. Audio clips from riparian and shrub steppe locations were converted into spectrograms to create a training model by manually assigning labels to each spectrogram/audio pair. The training model was used to then classify species and produce a cluster analysis of the spectrograms. Of the 5,799 riparian vocalizations, 22 distinct vocalizations were detected compared to 20 distinct vocalizations from 1,611 recordings in the shrub steppe. 17 vocalizations were common to both ecosystems. The results indicate a higher biodiversity profile for the riparian ecosystem or a difference in habitat usage.
Session Number
PS1
Location
HUB Multipurpose Room
Abstract Number
PS1-q
Assessing Bird Diversity in the Saltese Uplands Conservation Area Using Bioacoustic Monitoring and Cluster Analysis
HUB Multipurpose Room
This pilot study aims to compare population densities of bird species between two ecologically distinct locations within the Saltese Uplands Conservation Area by applying statistical classification and cluster analysis to large samples of acoustic recordings. Audio clips from riparian and shrub steppe locations were converted into spectrograms to create a training model by manually assigning labels to each spectrogram/audio pair. The training model was used to then classify species and produce a cluster analysis of the spectrograms. Of the 5,799 riparian vocalizations, 22 distinct vocalizations were detected compared to 20 distinct vocalizations from 1,611 recordings in the shrub steppe. 17 vocalizations were common to both ecosystems. The results indicate a higher biodiversity profile for the riparian ecosystem or a difference in habitat usage.
