Estimating Livestock Grazing Activity in Remote Areas Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring
Grazing has long been recognized as an effective means of modifying natural habitats and, by extension, as a wildlife and protected area management tool, in addition to the obvious economic value it has for pastoral communities. A holistic approach to grazing management requires the estimation of gr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-07-01
|
| Series: | Information |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/12/8/290 |
| _version_ | 1797523520573407232 |
|---|---|
| author | Ilias Karmiris Christos Astaras Konstantinos Ioannou Ioakim Vasiliadis Dionisios Youlatos Nikolaos Stefanakis Aspassia D. Chatziefthimiou Theodoros Kominos Antonia Galanaki |
| author_facet | Ilias Karmiris Christos Astaras Konstantinos Ioannou Ioakim Vasiliadis Dionisios Youlatos Nikolaos Stefanakis Aspassia D. Chatziefthimiou Theodoros Kominos Antonia Galanaki |
| author_sort | Ilias Karmiris |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Grazing has long been recognized as an effective means of modifying natural habitats and, by extension, as a wildlife and protected area management tool, in addition to the obvious economic value it has for pastoral communities. A holistic approach to grazing management requires the estimation of grazing timing, frequency, and season length, as well as the overall grazing intensity. However, traditional grazing monitoring methods require frequent field visits, which can be labor intensive and logistically demanding to implement, especially in remote areas. Questionnaire surveys of farmers are also widely used to collect information on grazing parameters, however there can be concerns regarding the reliability of the data collected. To improve the reliability of grazing data collected and decrease the required labor, we tested for the first time whether a novel combination of autonomous recording units and the semi-automated detection algorithms of livestock vocalizations could provide insight on grazing activity at the selected areas of the Greek Rhodope mountain range. Our results confirm the potential of passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) techniques as a cost-efficient method for acquiring high resolution spatiotemporal data on grazing patterns. Additionally, we evaluate the three algorithms that we developed for detecting cattle, sheep/goat, and livestock bell sounds, and make them available to the broader scientific community. We conclude with suggestions on ways that acoustic monitoring can further contribute to managing legal and illegal grazing, and offer a list of priorities for related future research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:44:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b00941fd26c14e599afb83ae88785829 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2078-2489 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:44:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-b00941fd26c14e599afb83ae887858292023-11-22T08:05:37ZengMDPI AGInformation2078-24892021-07-0112829010.3390/info12080290Estimating Livestock Grazing Activity in Remote Areas Using Passive Acoustic MonitoringIlias Karmiris0Christos Astaras1Konstantinos Ioannou2Ioakim Vasiliadis3Dionisios Youlatos4Nikolaos Stefanakis5Aspassia D. Chatziefthimiou6Theodoros Kominos7Antonia Galanaki8Forest Research Institute, ELGO-DIMITRA, 57006 Thessaloniki, GreeceForest Research Institute, ELGO-DIMITRA, 57006 Thessaloniki, GreeceForest Research Institute, ELGO-DIMITRA, 57006 Thessaloniki, GreeceForest Research Institute, ELGO-DIMITRA, 57006 Thessaloniki, GreeceSchool of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Music Technology & Acoustics, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 74100 Rethymno, GreeceBrain Chemistry Lab, Institute for Ethnomedicine, P.O. Box 3464, Jackson Hole, WY 83001, USASchool of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceSchool of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceGrazing has long been recognized as an effective means of modifying natural habitats and, by extension, as a wildlife and protected area management tool, in addition to the obvious economic value it has for pastoral communities. A holistic approach to grazing management requires the estimation of grazing timing, frequency, and season length, as well as the overall grazing intensity. However, traditional grazing monitoring methods require frequent field visits, which can be labor intensive and logistically demanding to implement, especially in remote areas. Questionnaire surveys of farmers are also widely used to collect information on grazing parameters, however there can be concerns regarding the reliability of the data collected. To improve the reliability of grazing data collected and decrease the required labor, we tested for the first time whether a novel combination of autonomous recording units and the semi-automated detection algorithms of livestock vocalizations could provide insight on grazing activity at the selected areas of the Greek Rhodope mountain range. Our results confirm the potential of passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) techniques as a cost-efficient method for acquiring high resolution spatiotemporal data on grazing patterns. Additionally, we evaluate the three algorithms that we developed for detecting cattle, sheep/goat, and livestock bell sounds, and make them available to the broader scientific community. We conclude with suggestions on ways that acoustic monitoring can further contribute to managing legal and illegal grazing, and offer a list of priorities for related future research.https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/12/8/290acoustic sensorspassive acoustic monitoringdetection algorithmgrazing timinggrazing season |
| spellingShingle | Ilias Karmiris Christos Astaras Konstantinos Ioannou Ioakim Vasiliadis Dionisios Youlatos Nikolaos Stefanakis Aspassia D. Chatziefthimiou Theodoros Kominos Antonia Galanaki Estimating Livestock Grazing Activity in Remote Areas Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring Information acoustic sensors passive acoustic monitoring detection algorithm grazing timing grazing season |
| title | Estimating Livestock Grazing Activity in Remote Areas Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
| title_full | Estimating Livestock Grazing Activity in Remote Areas Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
| title_fullStr | Estimating Livestock Grazing Activity in Remote Areas Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimating Livestock Grazing Activity in Remote Areas Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
| title_short | Estimating Livestock Grazing Activity in Remote Areas Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring |
| title_sort | estimating livestock grazing activity in remote areas using passive acoustic monitoring |
| topic | acoustic sensors passive acoustic monitoring detection algorithm grazing timing grazing season |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/12/8/290 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT iliaskarmiris estimatinglivestockgrazingactivityinremoteareasusingpassiveacousticmonitoring AT christosastaras estimatinglivestockgrazingactivityinremoteareasusingpassiveacousticmonitoring AT konstantinosioannou estimatinglivestockgrazingactivityinremoteareasusingpassiveacousticmonitoring AT ioakimvasiliadis estimatinglivestockgrazingactivityinremoteareasusingpassiveacousticmonitoring AT dionisiosyoulatos estimatinglivestockgrazingactivityinremoteareasusingpassiveacousticmonitoring AT nikolaosstefanakis estimatinglivestockgrazingactivityinremoteareasusingpassiveacousticmonitoring AT aspassiadchatziefthimiou estimatinglivestockgrazingactivityinremoteareasusingpassiveacousticmonitoring AT theodoroskominos estimatinglivestockgrazingactivityinremoteareasusingpassiveacousticmonitoring AT antoniagalanaki estimatinglivestockgrazingactivityinremoteareasusingpassiveacousticmonitoring |