Bird listeners are shaping the management of forests in the United States and could offer a blueprint for bushfire-prone areas of Australia.
A new study has used a large network of microphones to track birds across California’s Sierra Nevada region, providing crucial insights for managing and restoring fire-prone forests.
Kristin Brunk, a postdoctoral research associate at Cornell University, said the team analyzed more than 700,000 hours of audio recordings from more than 1600 sites spanning almost 2.5 hectares.
Ms Brunk said a machine-learning algorithm was used to identify birds from the recordings, after which they related the findings to fire frequency and forest characteristics, such as canopy cover, canopy height and the number of trees per hectare, variables that forest managers commonly used in fire management decisions.
She said the data helped them balance often competing objectives, such as managing high and growing risk of large fires and conserving biodiversity.
“The study created detailed maps showing where different birds were likely to live, helping managers make better-informed decisions about where to thin forests or conduct controlled burns.”
Ms Brunk said the research could serve as a model for other regions facing similar conservation challenges.
“It’s sort of a blueprint for how monitoring bird songs and calls can inform management,” she said.
Read the full study: Bioregional-scale acoustic monitoring can support fire-prone forest restoration planning.
