Date: July 16, 2013
Source: PeerJ, La Selva Biological Research Station
Researchers in Costa Rica and Puerto Rico are embracing new digital recording technologies to accurately identify animal, bird, and insect species living in the forest. They have developed an Automated Remote Biodiversity Monitoring Network (ARBIMON) that records information 24 hours a day and determines trends that provide early detection of potential threats to the forest.
This Network includes hardware infrastructure consisting of a mounted field IPOD and microphone receiver that is connected to a private server. Computer software programming is integrated with the system to analyze recordings and provide a searchable database system. Software is available for free to researchers and the general public at www.arbimon.net.
Initial tests demonstrating the effectiveness of the system were conducted at Las Selva Biological Field Station with six species recorded and analyzed with a high level of accuracy. In total, more than one million recordings from locations have been made public from facilities in Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Brazil, Arizona, and Hawaii.