Evaluating factors affecting species detection using passive acoustic monitoring in neotropical forests: a playback experiment
Abstract
Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has become a popular approach for terrestrial species monitoring. Studies determining detection ranges and predictors of detection probability are needed for accurate ecological modelling based on PAM data. We conducted a playback experiment to evaluate factors affecting call detectability in a neotropical forest. We used Geoffroy´s spider monkeys as a model species and broadcast their contact calls at seven distances from autonomous recording units (ARUs) positioned at different heights, in forest patches of different ages, and controlled for climate conditions during broadcasting trials. Using GLMMs (N = 1,342 data points), we found that call detectability increased the smaller the difference between the ARU and speaker height. We further found detection range to be wider the younger a surveyed forest patch is. To test whether these effects were related to structural signal characteristics, we included vocalisations from seven sympatric species in the experiment (N = 9,394). We found peak frequency to modulate the effect of ARU height difference, and peak frequency and bandwidth to modulate the effect of forest age on call detectability. Our study sheds light on factors influencing acoustic signal detectability and emphasises the need to consider climatic and habitat variables when designing PAM programmes.
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Detection remains inherently imperfect because species differ widely in vocal amplitude, calling behaviour, and seasonal activity, meaning some organisms present in an ecosystem may remain acoustically undetected even within dense monitoring grids.
“Detection remains inherently imperfect, because species differ widely in vocal amplitude, calling behaviour, and seasonal activity, meaning that some organisms present in an ecosystem may remain acoustically undetected even within dense monitoring grids”
From Listening forward: emerging roles of bioacoustics in ecology, evolution, and conservation (2026) · cites this paper as Hutschenreiter et al. 2023
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“…remains inherently imperfect, because species differ widely in vocal amplitude, calling behaviour, and seasonal activity, meaning that some organisms present in an ecosystem may remain acoustically undetected even within dense monitoring grids (Hutschenreiter et al. 2023 ; Singer et al. 2026).”
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- Authors
- Hutschenreiter, A., Sosa-López, J. R., González-García, F., & Aureli, F.
- Affiliations
- Universidad Veracruzana (MX)
- Instituto Politécnico Nacional (MX)
- Red Biología y Conservación de Vertebrados, Instituto de Ecología, A. C, Xalapa, Mexico
- Corresponding author
- Hutschenreiter, Anja
- Venue
- Bioacoustics
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2023-08-25
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 660-678
- ISSN
- 0952-4622 (ISSN-L)
- 2165-0586
- OpenAlex
- W4386167795
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 63
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 1.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Bioacoustics (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
- Universidad Veracruzana
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology › Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Marine animal studies overview
- Keywords
- passive acoustic monitoring, species detection probability, playback experiments, Geoffroy's spider monkey, Alouatta, contact calls, Neotropical forests, stand age, dominant frequency, signal bandwidth, habitat structure, autonomous recording units
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