Beta声学指数的特征和应用

随着录音设备性能的提高和硬件价格的降低,基于录音评估声景来反映生境特征和生物多样性的方法得到快速发展。声学指数是对声音整体特征的量化,受到录音生境和生物组成的共同影响,因此可构建声学指数与生境特征和生物组成的关联。按照作用的尺度,声学指数可分为两类:反映录音内信息的alpha声学指数和比较不同录音之间差异的beta声学指数。随着录音设备的普及,以及在大尺度上进行生物监测工作的增加,对不同时间、不同地点的录音进行比较的需求日益迫切。因此,beta声学指数的开发和应用是声学指数研究的重要方向。本文介绍了11个常用的beta声学指数,并探讨了这些指数的数学特征(非负性、同一性、对称性、直递性、有限性)。本文还通过文献检索获取了beta声学指数在实证中的应用情况,发现研究中常使用beta声学指数反映时间节律、生境特征的差异或生物组成的改变。最后,本文指出了beta声学指数研究/应用中迫切需要发展的3个方向:开发新的指数、优化已有指数的计算方式、增加实证研究。     

东北虎豹国家公园森林声景的昼夜和季节变化

被动声学监测技术和声学指数通过对音频数据的时频域特征进行定量分析,可以反映声景的复杂度、多样性和健康程度等,已经成为评估生物多样性变化的重要手段。本研究从2020年6月至2021年6月在东北虎豹国家公园采集了52个点的声学数据,计算了春、夏、秋、冬4个季节和黎明、白天、黄昏、夜晚4个昼夜时间段的声音复杂度指数(acoustic complexity index,ACI)、声音多样性指数(acoustic diversity index,ADI)、声音均匀度指数(acoustic evenness index,AEI)、生物声学指数(bioacoustic index,BIO)、标准化声景差异指数(normalized difference soundscape index,NDSI)、声音熵指数(acoustic entropy index,H)和1–21k Hz共20个频段的功率谱密度(power spectral density,PSD)等声学指数,评价了声景构成和多样性的昼夜和季节性差异。结果表明,东北虎豹国家公园的声景随季节变化具有显著的昼夜节律差异,尤其是夜晚的声景和声学成分...     

鸟类迁徙对图们江下游湿地声景时间格局的影响

声景生态学是一个相对较新和快速发展的研究领域,被动声学监测技术和声学指数已经成为研究湿地鸟类和声景多样性的重要方法。本研究评价了鸟类迁徙对中国东北图们江流域下游湿地声景日、月和季节变化的影响。我们从2020年11月至2021年12月在图们江下游敬信湿地设置10个采样点,获得91,988条时长5min的有效音频,计算了声音复杂度指数(acoustic complexity index,ACI)、生物声学指数(bioacoustic index,BIO)、声音均匀度指数(acoustic evenness index,AEI)和标准化声景差异指数(normalized difference soundscape index,NDSI)以及1–11 k Hz频段的功率谱密度(power spectral density,PSD)。结果表明,声学指数对鸟类迁徙活动敏感,其中2个迁徙期声景(2–4月和10–11月)都以1–2k Hz雁类白天的叫声为主,NDSI显著降低,1–2k Hz的PSD显著升高,但雁类向北迁徙时几个声学指数变化更为敏感,有效地捕获了迁徙峰值,表明不同季节鸟类迁徙模式存在差异...     

海南长臂猿生境的声景观与声学活动评估

海南霸王岭自然保护区是中国唯一保护海南长臂猿及其生存环境的国家级自然保护区,具有海南长臂猿(Nomascus hainanus)声音、鸟类声音等丰富的声景资源。探究海南长臂猿生境内的声景构成及声学活动,旨在为该区域的生态保护提供技术支撑。利用被动声学监测技术采集该保护区的声音数据,通过分析不同频率范围内的声景功率分布,描述了保护区声景观的特征与日变化;基于广泛使用的4个声学指数ACI(acoustic complex index)、ADI(acoustic diversity index)、BI(bioacoustic index)、NDSI(normalized difference soundscape index)来评估海南长臂猿声音,并利用随机森林算法,以4个声学指数为预测变量,有无海南长臂猿声音为响应变量,对声音数据进行分类。结果表明：(1)不同频率范围内的声景功率反映了研究区不同的声学群落信息,具有显著的时间变化特征,表明了鸟类、海南长臂猿等动物的黎明和黄昏合唱活动,其中,1～2 kHz符合海南长臂猿的黎明合唱,2～5 kHz符合鸟类等动物的生活规律;(2)有海南长臂猿与无...     

柴达木盆地荒漠灌丛群落谱系结构研究

谱系信息是群落生态学和保育生物学研究的主要内容之一。为探究柴达木盆地荒漠灌丛群落谱系结构及其与环境因子的关系,该研究以柴达木盆地荒漠灌丛为对象,基于群落中物种存在与否的物种组成数据,使用R语言中picante软件包计算了灌丛群落谱系多样性指数和谱系结构指数,并且分析了谱系结构指数与年均温度、年均降水以及土壤含水量之间的关系,以揭示柴达木盆地灌丛群落物种之间的亲缘关系和群落生物多样性维持机制。结果表明:(1)柴达木盆地灌丛群落谱系结构与土壤含水量之间存在极显著相关性(P=2.77×10-6),随着土壤含水量的增加,群落谱系结构聚集程度逐渐降低,表现出生境过滤作用逐步减弱,生物间相互作用逐渐加强的变化趋势。(2)群落谱系结构与年均温度、年均降水之间无显著相关性。(3)典型荒漠生境灌丛和河谷(河漫滩)生境灌丛群落的谱系结构差异显著(P0.05),整体上分别表现为谱系聚集状态和谱系发散状态;河谷(河漫滩)生境灌丛群落的谱系多样性显著高于典型荒漠生境灌丛(P0.05)。(4)将群落谱系信息应用在生物多样性保护实践中,发现河谷(河漫滩)生境灌丛群落较典型荒漠生境的灌丛群落可能具有更高的保护价值。研究认为,将群落谱系研究与保育生物学理论结合将会使生物多样性保护策略更加科学有效。     

坝上地区农田和恢复生境地表甲虫多样性

研究采用陷阱法对河北坝上崇礼县农田、禁牧草地及再造林地3种常见生境中地表甲虫进行了取样调查,分别从鞘翅目分科、步甲分种两个分类水平比较分析了不同生境中的生物多样性状况以评估生境恢复状况及其对生物多样性的影响,并探索在以生物多样性为指标评估生境恢复状况过程中,研究结论是否受分类水平的影响。结果显示,草地和林地具有较为相似鞘翅目和步甲的结构组成,但均显著不同于农田。农田较再造林地和禁牧草地具有更多的鞘翅目科数及步甲物种数,且均显著高于林地;农田中步甲群落的Fisher's α多样性指数也显著地高于林地,但鞘翅目分科水平上的Fisher's α多样性指数在各生境中没有差异。结果说明:(1)再造林和草地禁牧的生境修复活动在当前状态下对生物多样性恢复的作用尚不明显,仅是表现出促进了景观尺度上较高的Beta和Gamma多样性,而农田则在维持当地较高的生物多样性中扮演重要角色;(2)在鞘翅目分科和步甲科分种研究数据所反映的不同生境条件下的多样性和组成状况基本相同,因此在需要快速评估生境恢复状况且物种水平鉴定存在困难的时候,可以采用鞘翅目分科的数据替代指示生境恢复的状况并反映生境恢复对生物多样性影响的趋势,从而减少分类的难度并提高工作效率。但是物种水平的多样性状况更能显著反映生境间的差异。     

盐城5 种绿地春季大型土壤动物群落的生物多样性

选取盐城5种城市绿地:杨树林、油菜地、苗圃、公园绿地和草坪,于2011年春季开展了大型土壤动物群落的生物多样性研究。结果显示,密度-类群指数(density-group index,DG)、群落复杂性指数(complexity index,C)与Shannon-Wiener指数(H')等α多样性在苗圃、公园绿地和杨树林中均具有较高水平,在草坪和油菜地的大型土壤动物群落生物多样性水平较低,DG指数与C指数显著线性相关(P0.01,n=5)并对H'有较为一致的校正效果。采用β多样性(Jaccard群落相似性系数)为基础的系统聚类结果认为杨树林、苗圃和公园绿地群落相似,草坪和油菜地群落相似。研究结果认为,大型土壤动物群落的生物多样性与绿地生境特征的复杂程度相关,绿地中树木的分布情况可能是影响大型土壤动物群落生物多样性的重要因素,这可为城市绿地规划设计提供参考。     

广西北海西村港互花米草对红树林湿地大型底栖动物群落的影响

为了解互花米草(Spartina alterniflora)入侵红树林的生态影响, 作者对位于北海市西村港的红树林湿地以及周边互花米草盐沼的大型底栖动物群落多样性和群落结构进行了研究。2012年10月至2013年9月连续4次取样, 按照取样时间研究大型底栖动物的种类、物种组成、生物量和生物多样性等群落特征的差异, 探讨互花米草入侵红树林湿地对大型底栖动物的影响。本研究共采集底栖动物16种, 隶属于5门7纲15科, 其中互花米草群落10种, 红树林湿地12种。研究发现互花米草入侵后中国绿螂(Glauconome chinensis)个体数量剧增, 导致不同采样时间互花米草盐沼的大型底栖动物生物量均显著高于红树林湿地; 除个别月份外, 红树林湿地大型底栖动物的Margalef丰富度指数、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数、Simpson多样性指数和Pielou均匀度指数均显著高于互花米草群落。基于生境-采样时间的双因素方差分析结果表明, Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和Simpson指数在两种生境间差异显著; 两种生境的Margalef丰富度和Pielou均匀度指数在不同采样时间差异显著; 大型底栖动物生物量和物种数量在两种生境间和不同采样时间差异均显著。基于多元回归分析的研究结果表明, 互花米草密度是影响大型底栖动物生物量的关键因子, 而互花米草株高可以解释物种个体数量、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和Simpson指数在两种生境的变化。对不同采样时间大型底栖动物群落结构的非度量多维度(non-metric multidimensional scaling, NMDS)分析结果表明, 红树林与互花米草群落的大型底栖动物群落相似性很低。总而言之, 在西村港地区, 互花米草入侵虽然增加了大型底栖动物的生物量, 但由于优势物种的凸显, 显著降低了大型底栖动物群落的多样性, 且种类组成与群落结构与红树林群落相比已有差异。由此可见, 互花米草入侵红树林对当地的大型底栖动物群落多样性造成影响。     

声学指数在城市森林鸟类多样性评估中的应用

鸣声是鸟类之间进行沟通和传递信息的重要方式,这为通过声学监测评估鸟类多样性提供了独特的机会。利用声学指数快速评估生物多样性是一种新兴的调查方法,但城市森林中的复杂声环境可能会导致声学指数的指示结果出现偏差。为了解声学指数在城市森林中应用的可行性,本研究在北京市东郊森林公园设置了50个矩阵式调查样点,于2021年4–6月每月进行1次鸟类传统观测和同步鸣声采集,通过比较两种方法的结果来探究声学监测的有效性。采用Spearman相关分析和广义线性混合模型评估6个常用声学指数与鸟类丰富度和多度的关系,并衡量了每个指数的性能。结果表明:(1)本研究共记录到鸟类10目23科35种,通过声学监听识别的总物种数与传统鸟类观测相等,但具体鸟种存在差异;(2)不同月份间声学指数与鸟类丰富度和多度的相关性有明显差别,声学复杂度指数(ACI)和标准化声景差异指数(NDSI)优于其他指数,是评估鸟类多样性的关键变量;(3)声学指数对鸟类多度的预测能力(R²m=0.32,R2c=0.80)要高于丰富度(R²m=0.12,R2c=0.18)。声学指数为快速评估生物多样性提...     

激光雷达技术在动物生态学领域的研究进展

激光雷达(light detection and ranging, LiDAR)作为一门新兴的主动遥感技术, 近年来由于在提取和反演森林参数水平上不断提高, 被越来越多地应用于动物生态学研究中。本文通过整理和搜集国内外文献, 对激光雷达的技术特点及其在森林参数提取和动物生境上的研究进展进行综述, 指出当前基于LiDAR的森林参数反演算法主要服务于森林资源调查或林学研究, 缺少对动物生态或生理意义相关的参数量化信息。目前该技术在国内的动物生态学方面的应用较少, 尚未见文章发表。通过总结国外学者的研究, 分别从动物生境选择与三维森林结构的关系、栖息地立体生境制图、生物多样性评估和物种分布模型预测三个方面综述了LiDAR在动物生态学研究中的应用现状。相比传统方法, LiDAR技术提供的高精度三维结构信息, 能够显著提高动物生境质量的评估、生物多样性的监测水平和物种分布模型的评价精度, 有利于从机理上加深对物种生境选择和集群过程的理解。但目前LiDAR技术的应用主要集中在对已知的生态关系研究, 尤其是冠层结构与动物分布的关系, 缺少对林下层生活的动物生境质量和生物多样性的监测和评估, 同时很多有关动物生存和繁衍与立体生境的关系研究有待从LiDAR数据中进一步挖掘分析。未来应加强对森林林下层三维信息的提取, 提高林下层动物生境质量和生物多样性的监测水平, 同时建立适用于动物生态和生理意义相关的参数, 为动物生境质量和生物多样性的评估提供标准的量化指标。     

Do acoustic indices correlate with bird diversity? Insights from two biodiverse regions in Yunnan Province,south China

Human activities are affecting biodiversity to a greater extent than ever. Consequently, tools that can efficiently monitor changes in communities are becoming increasingly important. In the case of birds and other vocalizing animals, it has been suggested that passive acoustic methods can be used for this purpose. Multiple acoustic indices have been developed recently, to be used as proxies for species diversity. Preliminary results have been promising. Yet, before the indices can be applied widely, it is necessary to understand better how well they reflect the communities to be monitored, and how they perform under diverse environmental conditions. Here, we tested seven of the available indices, on sound recordings made in two biodiverse regions in Yunnan Province, south China. We assessed each index’s performance by measuring its correlation to bird species richness and diversity, estimated using point-count surveys. Each survey was conducted by an expert observer, at the same time each recording was made, and for the same duration. We also tested whether the performance of the indices was affected by levels of environmental dissimilarity between the sites sampled. We found that although no index showed a very strong correlation with species richness or diversity, three indices (the acoustic entropy, acoustic diversity and acoustic evenness indices) performed consistently better that the other four, showing moderate correlations. The levels of environmental dissimilarity among the sites did not seem to affect the performance of any of the indices tested, suggesting consistency − an important property for the indices to have. We conclude that although the acoustic indices have the potential to be used for passive acoustic monitoring, perhaps they need to be refined further before they can be applied widely. Meanwhile, they should be tested in more environments to reveal fully their potential and limitations.     

Acoustic communities in an environmental gradient from native to urban areas in Central Brazil

As urban areas expand due to increasing human populations, natural habitats are diminishing in quantity and quality. We conducted a study to examine the response of diurnal acoustic communities along a gradient of environments, ranging from native to dense urban areas. We hypothesized that acoustic indices would decline with urbanization, transitioning from natural and rural areas to urban environments. We conducted the research in and around Brasília, Central Brazil. We deployed 24 digital recorders in native, rural, low-density and high-density urban areas. We employed five commonly used acoustic indices (ADI, ACI, NDSI, H and BI) to characterize the acoustic communities and represent the existing biodiversity numerically. We initially compared the index values across different land use types using a non-parametric rank sum test. Subsequently, we selected eight landscape metrics and performed a principal component analysis to summarize the surrounding matrix at each sampling point. We then employed generalized linear models to determine if the acoustic indices exhibited the anticipated variations. The results indicated significant variations in all indices among the different land use types, indicating their responsiveness to distinct acoustic communities and environmental characteristics. ADI, H and NDSI exhibited declining values from native to urban areas, while ACI and BI displayed the opposite trend. These findings underscore the influence of landscape structure on acoustic indices. Consequently, we concluded that adopting appropriate landscape planning, mainly through integrating natural and urban areas, could help preserve biodiversity in tropical urban regions.     

Time-series forecasting offers novel quantitative measure to assess loud sound event in an urban park with restored prairie

Soundscape ecology and ecoacoustics study the spatiotemporal dynamics of a soundscape and how the dynamics reflect and influence ecological processes in the environment. Soundscape analysis methods employ acoustic recording units (ARUs) that collect acoustic data in study areas over time. Analyzing these data includes computation of several acoustic diversity indices developed to quantify species abundance, richness, or habitat condition through digital audio processing and algorithm adaptations for within-group populations. However, the success of specific indices is often dependent on habitat type and biota richness present and analyzing these data can be challenging due to temporal pseudo-replication. Time-series analytical methods address the inherent problems of temporal autocorrelation for soundscape analyses challenges. Animal population dynamics fluctuate in a variety of ways due to changes in habitat or natural patterns of a landscape and chronic noise exposure, with soundscape phenology patterns evident in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Historical phenological soundscape patterns have been used to predict expected soundscape patterns in long-term studies but limited work has explored how forecasting can quantify changes in short-term studies. We evaluate how forecasting from an acoustic index can be used to quantify change in an acoustic community response to a loud, acute noise. We found that the acoustic community of a Midwestern restored prairie had decreased acoustic community activity after a loud sound event (LSE), a Civil War Reenactment, mainly driven by observed changes in the bird community and quantified using two methods: an automated acoustic index and species richness. Time-series forecasting maybe considered an underutilized tool in analyzing acoustic data whose experimental design can be flawed with temporal autocorrelation. Forecasting using auto ARIMA with acoustic indices could benefit decision makers who consider ecological questions at different time scales.     

Partitioning diversity for conservation analyses

Aim  Differentiation of sites or communities is often measured by partitioning regional or gamma diversity into additive or multiplicative alpha and beta components. The beta component and the ratio of within-group to total diversity (alpha/gamma) are then used to infer the compositional differentiation or similarity of the sites. There is debate about the appropriate measures and partitioning formulas for this purpose. We test the main partitioning methods, using empirical and simulated data, to see if some of these methods lead to false conclusions, and we show how to resolve the problems that we uncover.
Location  South America, Ecuador, Orellana province, Rio Shiripuno.
Methods  We construct sets of real and simulated tropical butterfly communities that can be unambiguously ranked according to their degree of differentiation. We then test whether beta and similarity measures from the different partitioning approaches rank these datasets correctly.
Results  The ratio of within-group diversity to total diversity does not reflect compositional similarity, when the Gini–Simpson index or Shannon entropy are used to measure diversity. Additive beta diversity based on the Gini–Simpson index does not reflect the degree of differentiation between N sites or communities.
Main conclusions  The ratio of within-group to total diversity (alpha/gamma) should not be used to measure the compositional similarity of groups, if diversity is equated with Shannon entropy or the Gini–Simpson index. Conversion of these measures to effective number of species solves these problems. Additive Gini–Simpson beta diversity does not directly reflect the differentiation of N samples or communities. However, when properly transformed onto the unit interval so as to remove the dependence on alpha and N , additive and multiplicative beta measures yield identical normalized measures of relative similarity and differentiation.     

城市公园春季声景观与植被结构的关系

城市公园是城市生态系统的重要组成部分和城市生物多样性热点地区，具有丰富的声景观资源。由于声景观及声学方法具有信息量大，成本低，低侵入的特点，因此其研究和应用对生态系统健康及监测具有较高价值。声景观研究通过总结生物声的活动或多样性来衡量生物多样性。记录了北京20个城市公园的春季声景观，使用定量方法描述了声景观特征与变化；测试三种了已被证明与生物多样性相关并被广泛使用的声学指数（BIO、ADI、NDSI）与植被群落关系，完成了城市环境中声景观与环境关系的初步探究。研究结果表明：（1）声学指数能够有效表征城市公园声景观信息，具有显著的时间动态特性，能准确反映鸟类黎明合唱等重要生物生态活动；（2）声学强度指数也具有显著的时间动态变化和沿频率梯度的变化，不同的频率区间反映了不同声学群落的活动信息；（3）植被结构尤其是垂直结构对声景观起着重要作用，垂直异质性越大，声学多样性越高。发现支持声景观作为公园植被状况的度量，强调了其作为生物多样性和生态系统健康状况监测方法，用于城市管理和可持续发展的巨大潜力。     

Quantifying Phylogenetic Beta Diversity: Distinguishing between 'True' Turnover of Lineages and Phylogenetic Diversity Gradients

The evolutionary dissimilarity between communities (phylogenetic beta diversity PBD) has been increasingly explored by ecologists and biogeographers to assess the relative roles of ecological and evolutionary processes in structuring natural communities. Among PBD measures, the PhyloSor and UniFrac indices have been widely used to assess the level of turnover of lineages over geographical and environmental gradients. However, these indices can be considered as 'broad-sense' measures of phylogenetic turnover as they incorporate different aspects of differences in evolutionary history between communities that may be attributable to phylogenetic diversity gradients. In the present study, we extend an additive partitioning framework proposed for compositional beta diversity to PBD. Specifically, we decomposed the PhyloSor and UniFrac indices into two separate components accounting for 'true' phylogenetic turnover and phylogenetic diversity gradients, respectively. We illustrated the relevance of this framework using simple theoretical and archetypal examples, as well as an empirical study based on coral reef fish communities. Overall, our results suggest that using PhyloSor and UniFrac may greatly over-estimate the level of spatial turnover of lineages if the two compared communities show contrasting levels of phylogenetic diversity. We therefore recommend that future studies use the 'true' phylogenetic turnover component of these indices when the studied communities encompass a large phylogenetic diversity gradient.     

Connecting soundscape to landscape: Which acoustic index best describes landscape configuration?

Soundscape assessment has been proposed as a remote ecological monitoring tool for measuring biodiversity, but few studies have examined how soundscape patterns vary with landscape configuration and condition. The goal of our study was to examine a suite of published acoustic indices to determine whether they provide comparable results relative to varying levels of landscape fragmentation and ecological condition in nineteen forest sites in eastern Australia. Our comparison of six acoustic indices according to time of day revealed that two indices, the acoustic complexity and the bioacoustic index, presented a similar pattern that was linked to avian song intensity, but was not related to landscape and biodiversity attributes. The diversity indices, acoustic entropy and acoustic diversity, and the normalized difference soundscape index revealed high nighttime sound, as well as a dawn and dusk chorus. These indices appear to be sensitive to nocturnal biodiversity which is abundant at night in warm, subtropical environments. We argue that there is need to better understand temporal partitioning of the soundscape by specific taxonomic groups, and this should involve integrated research on amphibians, insects and birds during a 24 h cycle. The three indices that best connected the soundscape with landscape characteristics, ecological condition and bird species richness were acoustic entropy, acoustic evenness and the normalized difference soundscape index. This study has demonstrated that remote soundscape assessment can be implemented as an ecological monitoring tool in fragmented Australian forest landscapes. However, further investigation should be dedicated to refining and/or combining existing acoustic indices and also to determine if these indices are appropriate in other landscapes and for other survey purposes.     

Alpine cushion plants inhibit the loss of phylogenetic diversity in severe environments

Biotic interactions can shape phylogenetic community structure (PCS). However, we do not know how the asymmetric effects of foundation species on communities extend to effects on PCS. We assessed PCS of alpine plant communities around the world, both within cushion plant foundation species and adjacent open ground, and compared the effects of foundation species and climate on alpha (within‐microsite), beta (between open and cushion) and gamma (open and cushion combined) PCS. In the open, alpha PCS shifted from highly related to distantly related with increasing potential productivity. However, we found no relationship between gamma PCS and climate, due to divergence in phylogenetic composition between cushion and open sub‐communities in severe environments, as demonstrated by increasing phylo‐beta diversity. Thus, foundation species functioned as micro‐refugia by facilitating less stress‐tolerant lineages in severe environments, erasing a global productivity – phylogenetic diversity relationship that would go undetected without accounting for this important biotic interaction.