{"id":52565,"date":"2026-08-26T15:17:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T20:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/?p=52565"},"modified":"2026-09-11T13:33:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:33:40","slug":"zuzana-burivalova-forest-soundscapes-biodiversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/zuzana-burivalova-forest-soundscapes-biodiversity\/","title":{"rendered":"When Imaging Fails, Listen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"gb-element-60ef9694 breakout-box\">\n<div class=\"gb-element-349d52c1\">\n<p class=\"gb-text gb-text-baee7c1b\">Sound on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"209\" height=\"167\" class=\"gb-media-0c88a649\" alt=\"\" title=\"headphone-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/headphone-icon.webp\"\/>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text\">For a more immersive experience, we recommend reading this story while listening to this audio captured by the Sound Forest Lab. Grab your headphones and hit the play button. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<audio id=\"commons-custom-audio\" src=\"https:\/\/nelson-public-files.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/commons\/Brunei_B3_20240324_065311_MorningVertebrates.mp3\" loop preload=\"auto\"><\/audio>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"commons-audio-player-container\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"audio player\">\n<button id=\"commons-play-btn\" class=\"commons-play\" aria-label=\"Play\" aria-pressed=\"false\"><\/button>\n <label for=\"commons-volume-slider\" class=\"commons-sr-only\">Volume<\/label>\n<input type=\"range\" id=\"commons-volume-slider\" min=\"0\" max=\"1\" step=\"0.05\" value=\"1\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">Pretend, for a moment, you\u2019re standing in the center of the Baraboo Hills, a pocket of undisturbed upland forest less than 50 miles from the Wisconsin State Capitol. Close your eyes. What do you hear? How many unique animals and insects can you identify \u2014 cawing above the canopy, rustling behind in the brush? Now imagine each species as its own track in a complex audio file. And delete three-quarters of them. What does it sound like now?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-element-f809d36d\">\n<p class=\"gb-text gb-text-5dea9c81\">Zuzana&nbsp;Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 is an associate professor&nbsp;in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences&#8217; Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, a faculty affiliate in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and a researcher in its Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If global conservation stays on the same trendline it has for the past 50 years, that\u2019s exactly what will happen. Since 1970, the world has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldwildlife.org\/news\/press-releases\/catastrophic-73-decline-in-the-average-size-of-global-wildlife-populations-in-just-50-years-reveals-a-system-in-peril\/\">lost nearly 75 percent<\/a> of wildlife populations. That\u2019s what Zuzana Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison, is on a mission to reverse using one of the most visceral, cross-cultural experiences: sound. She\u2019s focused on forests, which house more than half of Earth\u2019s animal species and cover about 30 percent of the planet. She\u2019s spent the past five years pairing global community connections with cutting edge artificial intelligence to create the Soundscape Baselines Projects, which redefines how we understand biodiversity \u2014 and evaluate our efforts to save it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-element-4e2c3d3d wide-full commons-parallax\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-text\">Good, But Not Good Enough<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text\">At UW\u2013Madison, Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 leads the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundforestlab.org\/\">Sound Forest Lab<\/a>. Broadly, her goal is to identify the effectiveness of conservation methods, as well as document biodiversity loss from human activities. But through this work, she found a problem. How do we know if an intervention is \u201cworking\u201d if we don\u2019t have a reference point? What metrics <em>aren\u2019t<\/em> we getting from measurements like satellite imagery? \u201cYou can have forests that look kind of intact from satellite imagery, but animals might be gone,\u201d Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 explains. Say, for example, a reforestation project promises to plant 10,000 trees. What percentage of the original bird species might return to those trees? \u201cWe have grown so used to quantifying results of conservation by just counting the number of green hectares \u2014 which is good, but it&#8217;s not good enough.\u201d That\u2019s where sound comes in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text\">Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 first learned of bioacoustic monitoring \u2014 using recorded audio for species identification and analysis \u2014 during postdoctoral work with The Nature Conservancy. She\u2019d been conducting fieldwork in tropical forests, but her efforts were limited by how much ground she alone could physically cover. But the idea of remote monitoring through recording equipment? \u201cI was instantly, completely sold because you could be at multiple places at the same time,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"gb-element-9adadabf wide-1200\" role=\"complementary\">\n<div class=\"gb-element-9c93c864 side-by-side\">\n<div class=\"gb-element-985f0c3f\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1427\" height=\"1426\" class=\"gb-media-13ba6f49\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Burivalova-1080x1080-1.webp\" title=\"Zuzana Burivalova 1080x1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Burivalova-1080x1080-1.webp 1427w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Burivalova-1080x1080-1-600x600.webp 600w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Burivalova-1080x1080-1-1200x1200.webp 1200w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Burivalova-1080x1080-1-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Burivalova-1080x1080-1-768x767.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1427px) 100vw, 1427px\" \/>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-element-3e942b49\">\n<div class=\"gb-element-dd97372a commons-quote\">\n<div class=\"gb-element-2979623f\">\n<span class=\"gb-shape gb-shape-08a4f953\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\"><svg data-name=\"Layer 2\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 96.58 80.22\"><path d=\"M2.2 74.25c14.47-8.81 26.43-21.08 26.43-35.24 0-4.4-1.57-8.18-5.35-9.75l-10.7 9.75C7.55 36.18 0 30.2 0 19.19 0 9.12 7.55 0 19.82 0 34.29 0 43.1 11.64 43.1 27.06c0 23.6-17.3 40.9-37.12 53.17l-3.77-5.98Zm53.49 0c14.47-8.81 26.43-21.08 26.43-35.24 0-4.4-1.57-8.18-5.35-9.75l-10.7 9.75c-5.03-2.83-12.58-8.81-12.58-19.82C53.49 9.12 61.04 0 73.31 0c14.47 0 23.28 11.64 23.28 27.06 0 23.6-17.3 40.9-37.12 53.17z\" fill=\"86efef\" data-name=\"Layer 1\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text gb-text-3f1a5369\">It has a profound consequence&nbsp;for conservation &#8230; we can measure impact on a case-by-case basis rather than&nbsp;on average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text gb-text-f74bf45a\">\u2013 Zuzana Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text\">The technology itself is rather unassuming. In fact, thanks to its tree-bark camo design, you might miss it entirely. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.frontierlabs.com.au\/bar-lt\">autonomous recording units<\/a> are small \u2014 similar in size and shape to a basic trail camera. With slots for batteries, memory cards, and an omnidirectional microphone, they capture a fully immersive soundscape, 24\/7, from anywhere in the world. All you need to do is mount it to a tree and hit \u201crecord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text\">With coverage limitations removed, Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 began to think beyond her first field sites in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Could soundscapes document forests of the world? There are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oneearth.org\/ecoregion-list\/\">844 ecoregions<\/a> across the planet; only 181 have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wri.org\/insights\/worlds-last-intact-forests-increasingly-fragmented\">intact forest landscapes left<\/a>: \u201cForests that have not been industrially converted or logged in recent history,\u201d she explains, \u201care disappearing super fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text\">Although progress has been made against deforestation, Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 notes, she sees a missed connection with conserving the biodiversity within them. \u201cWe have forests, but we are increasingly modifying them,\u201d she says. \u201cMy goal with the Soundscape Baselines Project is to bring biodiversity back to the decision-making table and make sure that we have forests that are full of biodiversity and not just empty forests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-element-e44cc65c wide-full\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover has-parallax\" style=\"min-height:800px;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><div role=\"img\" aria-label=\"Sunset in Wisconsin forest\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-52842 size-full has-parallax\" style=\"background-position:55% 50%;background-image:url(https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sunset-Wisconsin-Forest-1920x1440-1.webp)\"><\/div><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"gb-element-710b82d9\">\n<h2 class=\"gb-text gb-text-0103b11d\">Wisconsin Connections<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text gb-text-e1a139a8\">With far-flung partner stations recording a variety of forest types, Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 needed a close-to-home forest both for recording and equipment troubleshooting. She found the perfect site in the Baraboo Hills of Wisconsin\u2019s Columbia and Sauk Counties, just north of the UW campus. The six Baraboo Hills recording units are positioned in places such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.org\/en-us\/get-involved\/how-to-help\/places-we-protect\/hemlock-draw\/\">Hemlock Draw<\/a>, a valley owned by The Nature Conservancy on the western edge of the natural area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text gb-text-972e268d\">\u201cThe forest\u2013savanna transition zone of the Upper Midwest in Wisconsin is a mosaic of oak-dominated woodlands, open savannas, and early successional habitats shaped by fire, climate, and land use history, with pockets of old forests. At dusk, the soundscapes typically have the calls of frogs, chorus of birds settling for the night, and sometimes coyotes,\u201d reads the baseline\u2019s description.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text gb-text-bba45948\">Watch as Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 and her team check equipment at the Baraboo Hills site in this episode of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/video\/casting-lines-and-listening-in-i6zh1x\/\">Great Lakes Now<\/a>,\u201d a program by PBS Detroit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-text\">Empowering Partners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To get the project off the ground, Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 activated a network of community and research partners around the globe. For the project\u2019s pilot year, she started with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundforestlab.org\/soundscapebaselines-1\">six intact forests<\/a>: Andulau Forest Reserve in Brunei, Tiputini Research Station in Ecuador, Ibola Dja Bana Ba Massaha in Gabon, the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany, Manu Biological Station in Peru, and Baraboo Hills in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alongside scientists, conservationists, and community leaders on the ground, Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 installed 36 autonomous recording units across the six locations. The Sound Forest Lab empowered each baseline team to run their site monitoring themselves by creating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundforestlab.org\/soundscapebaselines-1-1\">accessible resources<\/a> including video tutorials, downloadable checklists, and on-demand support. Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 also traveled to as many as she could to assist with the initial deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"gb-element-7a81d783 commons-quote\" role=\"complementary\">\n<div class=\"gb-element-dc575c69\">\n<span class=\"gb-shape gb-shape-7dd37913\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\"><svg viewBox=\"0 0 96.58 80.22\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" data-name=\"Layer 2\"><path data-name=\"Layer 1\" fill=\"#407c7f\" d=\"M2.2 74.25c14.47-8.81 26.43-21.08 26.43-35.24 0-4.4-1.57-8.18-5.35-9.75l-10.7 9.75C7.55 36.18 0 30.2 0 19.19 0 9.12 7.55 0 19.82 0 34.29 0 43.1 11.64 43.1 27.06c0 23.6-17.3 40.9-37.12 53.17l-3.77-5.98Zm53.49 0c14.47-8.81 26.43-21.08 26.43-35.24 0-4.4-1.57-8.18-5.35-9.75l-10.7 9.75c-5.03-2.83-12.58-8.81-12.58-19.82C53.49 9.12 61.04 0 73.31 0c14.47 0 23.28 11.64 23.28 27.06 0 23.6-17.3 40.9-37.12 53.17z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text gb-text-96041c60\">Local scientists and local communities &#8230; can do their own recordings, own the data, and learn how to use it for their own conservation purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"gb-text gb-text-6954cc1b\">\u2013 Zuzana Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once they were up and running, the units captured 24 hours of forest audio a day for a full year. That generated more than 3 million total minutes of audio recordings \u2014 dozens of terabytes of data \u2014 that needs to be uploaded and processed in Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1\u2019s UW\u2013Madison lab. But before Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 even got to the steps of processing and analyzing, she wanted to ensure a just and equitable approach to management of the data. That started where the work did: with the project partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First, Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 and her partners discussed a data agreement. They decided that all of the project\u2019s data would be publicly available, but not for sale or commercial use. If a group wants to use a community\u2019s data, they can opt in or out. The team also agreed that, after one year of recording the baseline, the equipment formally belongs to the local partner for their own use. (The Peruvian partners are now using their baselines tech for a citizen science project.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-element-56227fd0\">\n<figure>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"447\" height=\"613\" class=\"gb-media-68ebd40f\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Burivalova-400x550-1.webp\" title=\"Zuzana Burivalova 400x550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Burivalova-400x550-1.webp 447w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Burivalova-400x550-1-438x600.webp 438w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 447px) 100vw, 447px\" \/>\n\n\n\n<figcaption class=\"gb-text\">Details of researcher Maia Persche PhD\u201925, who studies the ways that oak woodland management has affected sounds, checking a microphone at Hemlock Draw (The Nature Conservancy) near North Freedom, WI. Photo by Caleb Alvarado<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2018The goal is not \u2018Zuzana travels the world,\u2019 \u201d she laughs. \u201cIt\u2019s local scientists and local communities that can do their own recordings, own the data, and then learn how to use it for their own conservation purposes as well as contributing to this global baseline database.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Community partners had another opportunity to be a leading voice, and that was in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soundforestlab.org\/soundscapebaselines-1-2-1\">visual representation<\/a> of the project. Through a previous study in Ecuador, Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 had connected with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarah-heuzeroth.de\/\">Sarah Heuzeroth<\/a>, a Hamburg-based scientific illustrator. She asked Heuzeroth to illustrate each baseline site, following the local teams\u2019 direction on which animal should be the silhouette and which others were important to include. \u201cIt expresses what the communities or local researchers see and hear their forest as,\u201d Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 says, \u201cwhich I think is more interesting than if a scientist from the Czech Republic living in the U.S. and an illustrator living in Germany do their interpretation!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-element-87d55103\">\n<div class=\"gb-element-a819e919\">\n<div>\n<span class=\"gb-shape gb-shape-3547e839\"><svg height=\"512\" width=\"512\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<path stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"0.25\" stroke=\"#010101\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" fill=\"#010101\" d=\"M20.16 0.08C163.04 0.08 305.93 0.08 448.82 0.08C450.2 1.62 454.14 2.12 456.16 3.24C460.22 5.48 463.71 9.06 465.9 13.14C470.69 22.1 468.97 33.43 468.97 43.25C468.97 63.2 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392.13C167.1 392.13 171.7 392.96 174.61 391.6C141.81 357.53 124.03 314.84 128.81 266.94C129.91 255.94 131.41 243.8 135.78 233.56C124.73 222.38 113.68 211.2 102.63 200.03ZM395.81 384C391.88 387.94 387.95 391.87 384.02 395.81C389.17 400.79 394.33 405.78 399.48 410.77C403.24 407 407.01 403.23 410.77 399.45C405.78 394.3 400.79 389.15 395.81 384ZM429.47 405.43C421.46 413.44 413.44 421.46 405.43 429.47C415.69 440.76 427.09 451.18 437.88 461.98C447.1 471.2 455.95 481.14 465.71 489.79C472.41 495.74 483.18 495.84 489.62 489.39C495.69 483.32 495.96 473.32 490.67 466.7C483.53 457.74 474.1 449.92 465.97 441.84C453.81 429.77 442.15 416.95 429.47 405.43Z\"><\/path>\n<\/svg><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div>\n<p class=\"gb-text gb-text-717dfafb\">These illustrations provide a visual representation of the rich soundscapes of forests in Wisconsin (coyote), Peru (wooly monkey), and Ecuador (frog). Hover with your mouse or tap on the illustrations to reveal more details.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wide-1200\">\n<div class=\"gb-element-baf88898 magnify-container\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1606\" class=\"gb-media-8402d03f\" alt=\"\" title=\"zuzana-wisconsin-wolf-illustration\" src=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/zuzana-wisconsin-wolf-illustration.webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/zuzana-wisconsin-wolf-illustration.webp 2500w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/zuzana-wisconsin-wolf-illustration-600x385.webp 600w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/zuzana-wisconsin-wolf-illustration-767x493.webp 767w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/zuzana-wisconsin-wolf-illustration-1200x771.webp 1200w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/zuzana-wisconsin-wolf-illustration-1536x987.webp 1536w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/zuzana-wisconsin-wolf-illustration-2048x1316.webp 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wide-1200\">\n<div class=\"gb-element-9ad96546 side-by-side\">\n<div class=\"magnify-container\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1768\" class=\"gb-media-8234bce6\" alt=\"\" title=\"Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Peru\" src=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Peru.webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Peru.webp 2500w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Peru-600x424.webp 600w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Peru-1200x849.webp 1200w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Peru-768x543.webp 768w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Peru-1536x1086.webp 1536w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Peru-2048x1448.webp 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\" \/>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"magnify-container\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1768\" class=\"gb-media-644b70c1\" alt=\"\" title=\"Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Ecuador\" src=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Ecuador.webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Ecuador.webp 2500w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Ecuador-600x424.webp 600w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Ecuador-1200x849.webp 1200w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Ecuador-768x543.webp 768w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Ecuador-1536x1086.webp 1536w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Deep-Dive-Ecuador-2048x1448.webp 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Listening On<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To get to work analyzing the terabytes and terabytes of data, a copy of the data has to get to the computers in Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1\u2019s lab. (Per their data agreement, the main copy remains in the partner country.) It doesn\u2019t move through servers or the cloud to get to UW\u2013Madison: \u201cFrom the more remote areas, it travels essentially as a hard drive in someone&#8217;s luggage,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once the physical copies are safely in the lab, the files get uploaded, processed, and run through a variety of algorithms \u2014 both existing models and bespoke ones, like one that detects gunshots to quantify hunting. Existing models like BirdNET identify most bird sounds to a species level. However, many \u2014 if not most sounds, such as the hundreds of species of insects and frogs, still aren\u2019t identifiable even with the best AI. That\u2019s because researchers still don\u2019t know what many of these species sound like. \u201cAI helps us see what we know,\u201d Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 says, \u201cso we cannot train machines to recognize them.\u201d The scientists summarize all the sounds of the forests, from birds to insects to mammals, to chart consistent peaks and valleys \u2014 a \u201cshape\u201d of daily activities. This led Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 and her team to a key discovery: each intact forest has a unique sound signature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt has a profound consequence for conservation because it means that if it holds, if it&#8217;s true, we can then use the baselines for conservation projects to compare themselves to a local baseline.\u201d For example, as a future reforestation project is under way, those soundscapes can be compared to the baseline to see if the conservation efforts are moving it closer to how the forest used to be; used to sound. \u201cWe can really measure impact on a case-by-case basis rather than on average.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In May 2026, the project culminated in a landmark study showing the effectiveness of bioacoustics for biodiversity monitoring. The paper was published in <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/gcb.70917\"><em>Global Change Biology<\/em><\/a>, including all of the local community partners as coauthors. Shortly after, Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 launched an <a href=\"https:\/\/naturecube.io\/published\/sound-forest-lab?code=lSl7mwEV4XjQe8tqHGdC\">interactive platform<\/a> that makes one month of sounds and images from each site publicly available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She already has the process for deploying the technology, supporting on-the-ground teams and processing the data. Now, Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 is looking to grow the Soundscape Baseline Project\u2019s reach \u2014 get more recording tech into more forests. \u201cMy goal is to find funding so that we can cover all 181 ecoregions with intact forests left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-element-e77c2cbe wide-full\">\n<figure>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2001\" height=\"939\" class=\"gb-media-9e5f4171\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Rainforest_FullWidth\u20131920x900.webp\" title=\"Zuzana Rainforest_FullWidth\u20131920x900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Rainforest_FullWidth\u20131920x900.webp 2001w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Rainforest_FullWidth\u20131920x900-600x282.webp 600w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Rainforest_FullWidth\u20131920x900-1200x563.webp 1200w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Rainforest_FullWidth\u20131920x900-768x360.webp 768w, https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Zuzana-Rainforest_FullWidth\u20131920x900-1536x721.webp 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2001px) 100vw, 2001px\" \/>\n\n\n\n<figcaption class=\"gb-text\">One of Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1\u2019s many views from the six Soundscape Baseline Projects test sites. Photo courtesy of Zuzana\u00a0Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With a dataset like that, it\u2019d be difficult for any forest decisions to be made <em>without<\/em> considering biodiversity, and that\u2019s exactly what Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1 hopes to see. \u201cRight now, a lot of decisions have the excuse, \u2018Oh, biodiversity is so hard to quantify. We don&#8217;t really know,\u2019 \u201d she says.&nbsp; \u201cWith deforestation, you can measure it, so you kind of have to consider it \u2026 What I want to happen is that whenever someone is making a decision about some forest, it is inevitable that they have to consider biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Soundscape Baseline Project holds another benefit, too, in its creation of a sort of forest time capsule. Think of the power of sound: a melody that takes you right back to a special moment. The yearning you feel to hear a lost loved one\u2019s voice one more time. Bu\u0159ivalov\u00e1\u2019s soundscapes offer us that, too. \u201cI think it&#8217;s an important memory of the ecosystem,\u201d she says. \u201cEven Aldo Leopold made sound recordings during his time, and we see a value of this information even now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soundscapes of forests from Brunei to Baraboo are setting benchmarks for biodiversity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":52682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_template":[73],"class_list":["post-52565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","post_template-zuzana-sound-lab"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ 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