Low-cost and energy efficient recording of biodiversity soundscapes
An international team of researchers has built a new sensor network that can monitor two crucial activities, namely biodiversity, or the variety of life, in a particular habitat or ecosystem, and identification of possible illegal activities such as logging or poaching in protected areas. This wireless recording network is capable of recording an ecosystem's sounds with the same quality as devices that have been used to date, but it is significantly more energy-efficient and cost-effective. This network is composed of edge computing recorders, or devices that sample and process data at the recording location, with power savings of up to 280%. It promises to significantly streamline the monitoring process of biodiversity and addresses the urgent global need for new assessment methods necessary to maintain the world's biodiversity balance.