Leah Barclay
Aquatic ecosystems are complex acoustic environments where life may be reliant on sound to communicate and survive. The impacts of climate change are often readily visible in terrestrial environments, but conservation is challenging in aquatic ecosystems when we cannot see beneath the surface. Increased anthropogenic noise and rising temperatures continue to cause unfathomable ecological disruptions that are dramatically transforming the acoustic ecologies of freshwater and marine ecosystems across the planet.
Conventional environmental monitoring in aquatic ecosystems remains problematic—it is highly invasive, expensive and constrained to restricted areas and manual processing of observations by specialists [1]. Rapid advancements in digital technology have provided opportunities for noninvasive acoustic monitoring that is now accessible, affordable and viable [2]. Listening to freshwater and marine environments with hydrophones can inspire and engage communities to understand aquatic biodiversity and protect ecosystems [3]. Mobile applications and interactive experiences that...