Journal article
A continental‐scale tool for acoustic identification of European bats
Journal of Applied Ecology, Vol.49(5), pp.1064-1074
2012
Abstract
1. Acoustic methods are used increasingly to survey and monitor bat populations. However, the use of acoustic methods at continental scales can be hampered by the lack of standardized
and objective methods to identify all species recorded. This makes comparable continent-wide monitoring difficult, impeding progress towards developing biodiversity indicators, transboundary conservation programmes and monitoring species distribution changes.
2. Here we developed a continental-scale classifier for acoustic identification of bats, which can be used throughout Europe to ensure objective, consistent and comparable species identifications. We selected 1350 full-spectrum reference calls from a set of 15 858 calls of 34 European species, from EchoBank, a global echolocation call library. We assessed 24 call parameters to evaluate how well they distinguish between species and used the 12 most useful to train a hierarchy of ensembles of artificial neural networks to distinguish the echolocation calls of these bat species.
3. Calls are first classified to one of five call-type groups, with a median accuracy of 976%. The median species-level classification accuracy is 837%, providing robust classification for
most European species, and an estimate of classification error for each species.
4. These classifiers were packaged into an online tool, iBatsID, which is freely available, enabling anyone to classify European calls in an objective and consistent way, allowing standardized acoustic identification across the continent.
5. Synthesis and applications. iBatsID is the first freely available and easily accessible continental-scale bat call classifier, providing the basis for standardized, continental acoustic bat
monitoring in Europe. This method can provide key information to managers and conservation planners on distribution changes and changes in bat species activity through time.
Details
- Title
- A continental‐scale tool for acoustic identification of European bats
- Authors
- Charlotte L Walters (Author) - University of KentRobin Freeman (Author) - University College LondonAlanna Collen (Author) - Zoological Society of LondonChristian Dietz (Author) - University of Tu¨bingen (Germany)M Brock Fenton (Author) - Western UniversityGareth Jones (Author) - University of BristolMartin K Obrist (Author) - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape ResearchSébastien J Puechmaille (Author) - University College DublinThomas Sattler (Author) - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape ResearchBjörn M Siemers (Author) - Max Planck Institute for OrnithologyStuart Parsons (Author) - University of AucklandKate E Jones (Author) - University College London
- Publication details
- Journal of Applied Ecology, Vol.49(5), pp.1064-1074; 11
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
- Date published
- 2012
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02182.x
- ISSN
- 1365-2664; 0021-8901
- Copyright note
- This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Walters, C.L., Freeman, R., Collen, A., Dietz, C., Brock Fenton, M., Jones, G., Obrist, M.K., Puechmaille, S.J., Sattler, T., Siemers, B.M., Parsons, S. and Jones, K.E. (2012), A continental-scale tool for acoustic identification of European bats. J Appl Ecol, 49: 1064-1074. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02182.x, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02182.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99576108902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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