Stuart Newson will be joining us online to talk about his current research on the possibilities of acoustic monitoring of small-terrestrial mammals.
When: 18th January 2023, 19:30-20:30
Within Britain there are several species of small terrestrial mammal, defined for this talk, as species belonging to the following groups: rats; mice; voles; dormouse and shrews. Some species are widespread and common (e.g. Brown Rat), whilst others are far more localised and/or less abundant (e.g. Hazel Dormouse). All of these species, however, are difficult to observe in the wild, other than the occasional fleeting glimpse.
It is usually necessary to perform invasive capture techniques to confirm presence, and, by the nature of these methods, studies tend to be localised. The value of being able to differentiate the acoustic sounds made by small terrestrial mammals, at least to some level, made by these mammals is immense. Acoustic studies can be carried out without directly impacting (i.e. non-invasively) upon the animal’s behaviour and can be carried out by many surveyors across much larger areas (local, regional or national), and simultaneously, if required.
The challenge before Stuart and his collaborators (Neil Middleton and Huma Pearce) started working on this, was that not much was known about the vocal repertoire of most of the small terrestrial mammals in Britain. As such, prior to being able to confidently carry out field studies, it was important to characterise as accurately as possible, sounds made by different species in order that these can later be used by others for reference purposes when conducting their acoustic surveys.
Through this talk, Stuart will provide an exploratory look at some of the possibilities that acoustics could offer for surveying small terrestrial mammals in the UK. The talk will start with the journey that Stuart et al. have taken to understand and describe the vocalisations produced by small terrestrial mammals in the UK, which resulted first in the publication of a guide to their sound identification in British Wildlife in 2020, and along with other mammals, will be looked at in more detail in a forthcoming book due to be published later this year by Pelagic publishing.
Whilst working on these, Stuart extended his work on building algorithms to automatically identify bats from their calls, to also include small terrestrial mammals, which has been made available for anyone through the BTO Acoustic Pipeline (www.bto.org/pipeline).
In the remainder of the talk, Stuart will look in more detail at the sound identification of some species of small mammals, and some of the opportunities but also some of the challenges of acoustics for different species groups.
For example, there are likely to be benefits for licenced or priority species that could be monitored using acoustics, including possibilities for monitoring climbing and arboreal species such as Harvest Mouse and Hazel Dormouse that are difficult to monitor by live-trapping and/or where conventional surveys can only be carried out by licenced personnel.
Shrews can be detected at over five metres away from a bat detector, which means that valuable acoustic data on shrews is straightforward to collect, including as incidental data during static bat detector surveys.
Through this talk we provide examples of how acoustics is being used by the BTO, for example how incidental data collected during bats surveys has led to the production of the first large-scale distribution map of Greater white-toothed shrew for the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
Who is Stuart Newson and what is the BTO Acoustic Pipeline?
Stuart Newson is the Senior Research Ecologist for the BTO Acoustic Pipeline, which is a software programme primarily used to aid bat call sound analysis through the assistance of data management and identification of European bats.
The Pipeline currently focuses on 34 species of European bat, but also identifies 14 small mammal species, 18 bush-cricket species and 2 moth species, where these are recorded as by-catch. The BTO Acoustic Pipeline is a useful tool for assisting with large scale bat call sound analysis, however like all auto-identification programmes there is a margin or error and a level of verification by someone trained in sound analysis is still recommended.
Stuart is also currently working with Neil Middleton and Huma Pearce for Pelagic Publishing on the sound identification of mammals of the British Isles, which is due to be published later in 2023.
This event will be recorded!
This event is being offered to all Wiltshire Bat Group and Wiltshire Mammal Group members at a discounted rate.
Wiltshire Mammal Portal 