Reference Animal Vocalisations

About the Project

The Animal Sound Archive of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the Department of Experimental Industrial Psychology of the Bergische Universität Wuppertal develop effective tools to access bioacoustical reference data within the joined project „Reference system of bioacoustic data“ supported by the DFG. The aim of this project is to create a reference library of voices of European animal species on the basis of already digitized recordings of the Animal Sound Archive, integrating other sources and experts. In the reference system only records will be included that have a high acoustic quality. The determination of the species must be reliable and the location of the recording must be known. A web-based interface will allow access the database. Acoustic pattern recognition algorithms for species determination will be developed and implemented. The application of the system is intended for a wide range of tasks in biodiversity research and conservation. In addition due to its encyclopaedic character the reference system can indicate gaps in knowledge on animal vocalisations and encourage scientists to fill these gaps by targeted research.