Acoustic monitoring: new applications for bird and human wildlife conflicts monitoring
- Autores: Gerard Bota
- Directores de la Tesis: Juan Traba Díaz (dir. tes.), Cristian Pérez Granados (codir. tes.), Santi Mañosa (tut. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat de Barcelona ( España ) en 2022
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Joan Real Orti (presid.), Rubén Moreno-Opo (secret.), Diego Lluisa Genique (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Biodiversidad
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: TESEO
- Resumen
In a context of the global biodiversity crisis, such as the one in which the planet is found, having accurate information linked to biodiversity monitoring systems is essential to be able to make evidence-based decisions. The development of new technologies for the study of biodiversity is opening up new opportunities that until a few years ago were difficult to imagine. One of these technologies on the rise is passive acoustic monitoring (PAM). This technology offers improvements over more conventional monitoring methodologies. However, there are still some limitations and opportunities to explore related to the availability of standardized monitoring protocols adapted to real contexts, as well as related to the use of derived acoustic indices to answer applied conservation questions. The objective of this thesis is to explore new potential applications of PAM, going from the design and testing of new Autonomous Recording Units (ARU), to defining protocols and assessing indexes for bird monitoring, to finally explore its potential for bird migration studies and evaluation and monitoring human-wildlife conflicts. The design of specific PAM protocols for bird monitoring, based on the performance of the ARUS to be used and the ecology of the target species, offers great opportunities for maximizing species detection and minimizes survey efforts when an acoustic monitoring protocol is designed. This thesis highlights the need for assessing the effectiveness of potential recorders for acoustic monitoring programmes, since its performance greatly influences the area potentially sampled. Considering relevant ecological aspects, such as population density and vocal behaviour of the species, this thesis develops a species-specific PAM protocol for the detection of Dupont’s lark (Chersophilus duponti) that has been successfully used in real monitoring contexts. Five logical steps to develop effective monitoring protocols for detecting species presence, using ARUs, are also presented. The Vocal Activity Rate (VAR) index is one of the most used acoustic indices for estimating bird abundances from sound recordings. This thesis shows that VAR is a good and feasible indicator to estimate the abundance of the Dupont’s lark and the European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) as well as to estimate the hunting pressure of this last species on beehives. The establishment of new robust relationships between VAR index and species abundance presents a range of new opportunities and applications for wildlife population monitoring that goes beyond the abundance estimate itself. In this context, the thesis proves the usefulness of PAM in establishing the migratory temporal pattern of the European bee-eater and to provides a reliable method for verifying and quantifying the predation pressure of European bee-eaters in beehives and its potential impact on honeybee flying activity. These results provide new applications for the use of PAM, reinforcing the idea of the potential of this methodology for the study and monitoring of biodiversity.
