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Experimental test of birdcall detection by autonomous recorder units and by human observers using broadcast

1. Autonomous recording units are now routinely used to monitor birdsong, starting to supplement and potentially replace human listening methods. However, to date there has been very little systematic comparison of human and machine detection ability. 2. We present an experiment based on broadcast c...

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Autores principales: Castro, Isabel, De Rosa, Alberto, Priyadarshani, Nirosha, Bradbury, Leanne, Marsland, Stephen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6405537/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30891187
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4775
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author Castro, Isabel
De Rosa, Alberto
Priyadarshani, Nirosha
Bradbury, Leanne
Marsland, Stephen
author_facet Castro, Isabel
De Rosa, Alberto
Priyadarshani, Nirosha
Bradbury, Leanne
Marsland, Stephen
author_sort Castro, Isabel
collection PubMed
description 1. Autonomous recording units are now routinely used to monitor birdsong, starting to supplement and potentially replace human listening methods. However, to date there has been very little systematic comparison of human and machine detection ability. 2. We present an experiment based on broadcast calls of nocturnal New Zealand birds in an area of natural forest. The soundscape was monitored by both novice and experienced humans performing a call count, and autonomous recording units. 3. We match records of when calls were broadcast with detections by both humans and machines, and construct a hierarchical generalized linear model of the binary variable of correct detection or not, with a set of covariates about the call (distance, sound direction, relative altitude, and line of sight) and about the listener (age, experience, and gender). 4. The results show that machines and humans have similar listening ability. Humans are more homogeneous in their recording of sounds, and this was not affected by their individual experience or characteristics. Humans were affected by trial and location, in particular one of the stations located in a small but deep valley. Despite recorders being affected significantly more than people by distance, altitude, and line of sight, their overall detection probability was higher. The specific location of recorders seems to be the most important factor determining what they record, and we suggest that for best results more than one recorder (or at least, microphone) is needed at each station to ensure all bird sounds of interest are captured.
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spelling pubmed-64055372019-03-19 Experimental test of birdcall detection by autonomous recorder units and by human observers using broadcast Castro, Isabel De Rosa, Alberto Priyadarshani, Nirosha Bradbury, Leanne Marsland, Stephen Ecol Evol Original Research 1. Autonomous recording units are now routinely used to monitor birdsong, starting to supplement and potentially replace human listening methods. However, to date there has been very little systematic comparison of human and machine detection ability. 2. We present an experiment based on broadcast calls of nocturnal New Zealand birds in an area of natural forest. The soundscape was monitored by both novice and experienced humans performing a call count, and autonomous recording units. 3. We match records of when calls were broadcast with detections by both humans and machines, and construct a hierarchical generalized linear model of the binary variable of correct detection or not, with a set of covariates about the call (distance, sound direction, relative altitude, and line of sight) and about the listener (age, experience, and gender). 4. The results show that machines and humans have similar listening ability. Humans are more homogeneous in their recording of sounds, and this was not affected by their individual experience or characteristics. Humans were affected by trial and location, in particular one of the stations located in a small but deep valley. Despite recorders being affected significantly more than people by distance, altitude, and line of sight, their overall detection probability was higher. The specific location of recorders seems to be the most important factor determining what they record, and we suggest that for best results more than one recorder (or at least, microphone) is needed at each station to ensure all bird sounds of interest are captured. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2019-02-10 /pmc/articles/PMC6405537/ /pubmed/30891187 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4775 Text en © 2019 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Castro, Isabel
De Rosa, Alberto
Priyadarshani, Nirosha
Bradbury, Leanne
Marsland, Stephen
Experimental test of birdcall detection by autonomous recorder units and by human observers using broadcast
title Experimental test of birdcall detection by autonomous recorder units and by human observers using broadcast
title_full Experimental test of birdcall detection by autonomous recorder units and by human observers using broadcast
title_fullStr Experimental test of birdcall detection by autonomous recorder units and by human observers using broadcast
title_full_unstemmed Experimental test of birdcall detection by autonomous recorder units and by human observers using broadcast
title_short Experimental test of birdcall detection by autonomous recorder units and by human observers using broadcast
title_sort experimental test of birdcall detection by autonomous recorder units and by human observers using broadcast
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6405537/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30891187
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4775
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