Overview
This project aims to explore the use of passive recordings as a monitoring tool by examining its ability to monitor and characterise community composition and diversity of key faunal taxa in a large-scale restoration project.
Methodological approaches
NTU researchers, in collaboration with the Center for Ecosystem Restoration Kenya (CER-K) and local institutions will establish a network of acoustic monitoring devices within active large-scale restoration projects. This network will be deployed to capture acoustic data in relation to a number of parameters that are likely to influence species/community composition (e.g., altitude, age of restoration plot, restoration plot vegetation composition). Bats, amphibians, terrestrial invertebrates, and birds will be the key taxa studied, given that each of these groups can readily be monitored via acoustic monitoring and act as bioindicators of the health of ecosystems. The acoustic data outputs will be compared to existing ecological/environmental datasets for the site to enable correlations to be investigated and the acoustic data to be placed in a wider context. Ultimately, this project will help to develop a long-term monitoring framework for restoration and rewilding projects more widely. (Starting 2023)