Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Biodiversity monitoring

The limits of acoustic indices

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 8, pages 606–607 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

A cross-validation approach with acoustic and bird datasets from four regions shows that acoustic indices produce inconsistent and non-generalizable estimates of biodiversity.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Acoustic indices aim to assess biodiversity from audio recordings, but recent research has shown their substantial limitations in extracting accurate and generalized biodiversity metrics.

References

  1. Obrist, M. K. et al. Abc Taxa 8, 68–99 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Laiolo, P. Biol. Conserv 143, 1635–1645 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Sugai, L. S. M., Silva, T. S. F., Ribeiro, J. W. Jr & Llusia, D. Bioscience 69, 15–25 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gibb, R., Browning, E., Glover‐Kapfer, P. & Jones, K. E. Methods Ecol. Evol. 10, 169–185 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Tuia, D. et al. Nat. Commun. 13, 792 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Sethi, S. S. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 7, 1373–1378 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Sueur, J., Farina, A., Gasc, A., Pieretti, N. & Pavoine, S. Acta Acust. United Acust 100, 772–781 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Sueur, J., Pavoine, S., Hamerlynck, O. & Duvail, S. PLoS ONE 3, e4065 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Pieretti, N., Farina, A. & Morri, D. Ecol. Indic. 11, 868–873 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Alcocer, I., Lima, H., Sugai, L. S. M. & Llusia, D. Biol. Rev. Camb. Philos. Soc. 97, 2209–2236 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Retamosa Izaguirre, M., Barrantes-Madrigal, J., Segura Sequeira, D., Spínola-Parallada, M. & Ramírez-Alán, O. Neotrop. Biodivers. 7, 431–442 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Bicudo, T., Llusia, D., Anciães, M. & Gil, D. Ecol. Inform. 77, 102241 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Roe, P. et al. Methods Ecol. Evol. 12, 1802–1808 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Servick, K. Science 343, 834–837 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Wilson, E. O. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 1, 1590–1591 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Terrestrial Ecology Group, Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, Facultad de Ciencias, Edificio de Biología, Madrid, Spain

    Diego Llusia

  2. Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Madrid, Spain

    Diego Llusia

  3. Laboratório de Herpetologia e Comportamento Animal, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Goiânia, Brazil

    Diego Llusia

Authors
  1. Diego Llusia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diego Llusia.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Llusia, D. The limits of acoustic indices. Nat Ecol Evol 8, 606–607 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02348-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02348-1

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene