This dataset contains audio files from Robson Creek Rainforest SuperSite. The 25 hectare site lies on the Atherton Tablelands in the wet tropical rainforests of Australia at 680-740 m elevation. It is situated in Danbulla National Park within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The forest is classified as Regional Ecosystem (RE) 7.3.36a, complex mesophyll vine forest. The climate is seasonal with approximately 60% of rain falling between January and March and the landform is moderately inclined with a low relief. There are 208 species in the site, and maximum canopy height is 44 m. All stems ≥ 10 cm diameter are measured, tagged and mapped. For additional site information, see Robson Creek Rainforest SuperSite
In 2012 an acoustic recorder was set up at this site, 140Â m north-east of the flux tower and adjacent to a swampy area of forest. The recorder collected audio data for a total of 12 hours per day, split between six hours around dawn and six hours around dusk. The recording schedule aimed at capturing morning and evening bird choruses while minimizing memory and battery requirements. A long-term spectrogram has been generated for each audio file to aid in data exploration. The sensors also recorded temperature, minimum- maximum- and mean-sound pressure levels.
Data are made available through the data link. For downloading large amount of data, please follow these instructions How to download TERN's acoustic data in bulk
Credit
We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Robson Creek Rainforest SuperSite is located Danbulla National Park within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area administered by the Wet Tropics Management Authority, and Queensland Parks and Wildlife. James Cook University manages the site.
This work was funded by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), an Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) project.
Purpose
Long-term acoustic recordings are collected to characterise the acoustic sources in the ecosystem. Recordings can be used to estimate biodiversity, monitor temporal changes in the soundscape, compare the acoustic characteristics of different locations, and assess the effect of particular events such as bushfires and floods.
Lineage
An acoustic sensor was set up to collect audio data as part of a continent wide long term monitoring project. The sensor was a Wildlife Acoustics Song Meter. The initial sensor was a Song Meter 2 (SM2), which was later replaced by a SM2+ and a SM4. Each sensor had two microphones. According to manufacturer's specifications the microphones sensitivity was -36±4 dB (0 dB=1 V/Pa at 1 kHz) for the SM2 and SM2+ and -35±4 dB (0 dB=1 V/Pa at 1 kHz) for the SM4. The sensor was mounted on a star picket, located 140 m north-east of the flux tower and adjacent to a swampy area of forest. Data were recorded for a total of 12 hours per day, split between six hours around dawn and six hours around dusk. Recordings were made as dual channel, three-hour long wac files, and were later converted into flac format. They had a sampling rate of 22,050 Hz, 24,000 Hz or 44,100 Hz and a depth of 16 bits. Long-term spectrograms have been created for the audio files and are avaialble through the data link.
The sensors also recorded 'ancillary data' such as temperature, minimum- maximum- and mean-sound pressure levels.
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