Why in the News
Researchers have released India’s first open-access, crowdsourced ecoacoustic biodiversity dataset, capturing 518 species across 5,815 minutes of recordings from 25 states and union territories.
What is ecoacoustics?
- Ecoacoustics is the study of sounds produced by organisms and the surrounding environment to understand ecosystems, biodiversity and ecological change.
- Instead of relying only on visual surveys, passive acoustic recorders can continuously capture:
- Bird calls, Insect sounds, Frog and bat calls, Reptile and mammal vocalisations, Marine animal sounds, Background environmental sounds such as rain, wind and human activity
Why does it matter?
- Non-invasive monitoring: Sound-based surveys track biodiversity cheaply and continuously across large areas.
- Open science: An open-access, crowdsourced dataset lets any researcher reuse the data for conservation.
- Baseline data: It creates a reference against which future biodiversity loss can be measured.
[2023] Which of the following organisms perform waggle dance for others of their kin to indicate the direction and the distance to a source of their food?
[A] Butterflies
[B] )Dragonflies
[C] Honeybees
[D] Wasps