A primer of acoustic analysis for landscape ecologists

In this paper we present an introduction to the physical characteristics of sound, basic recording principles as well as several ways to analyze digital sound files using spectrogram analysis. This paper is designed to be a “primer” which we hope will encourage landscape ecologists to study soundsca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Landscape ecology 2011-11, Vol.26 (9), p.1233-1246
Main Authors: Villanueva-Rivera, Luis J., Pijanowski, Bryan C., Doucette, Jarrod, Pekin, Burak
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustics
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Data collection
Ecologists
Ecology
Environmental Management
Landscape Ecology
Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning
Life Sciences
Nature Conservation
Noise
Research Article
Sustainable Development
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Summary:In this paper we present an introduction to the physical characteristics of sound, basic recording principles as well as several ways to analyze digital sound files using spectrogram analysis. This paper is designed to be a “primer” which we hope will encourage landscape ecologists to study soundscapes. This primer uses data from a long-term study that are analyzed using common software tools. The paper presents these analyses as exercises. Spectrogram analyses are presented here introducing indices familiar to ecologists (e.g., Shannon’s diversity, evenness, dominance) and GIS experts (patch analysis). A supplemental online tutorial provides detailed instructions with step by step directions for these exercises. We discuss specific terms when working with digital sound analysis, comment on the state of the art in acoustic analysis and present recommendations for future research.
ISSN:0921-2973
1572-9761
DOI:10.1007/s10980-011-9636-9