A study of bird songs conducted in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California generated a million hours of audio, which AI researchers are working to decode to gain insights into how birds responded to wildfires in the region, and to learn which measures helped the birds to rebound more quickly. Scientists can also use the soundscape to help track shifts in migration timing and population ranges, according to a recent account in Scientific American. More audio data is coming in from other research as well, with sound-based projects to count insects and study the effects of light and noise pollution on bird communities underway. "Audio data is a real treasure trove because it contains vast amounts of information," stated ecologist Connor Wood, a Cornell University postdoctoral researcher, who is leading the Sierra Nevada project. "We just need to think creatively about how to share and access that information."

We can learn a lot from nature if we listen to it more--and scientists around the world are trying to do just that. From mountain peaks to ocean depths, biologists are increasingly planting audio recorders to unobtrusively eavesdrop on the groans, shrieks, whistles and songs of whales, elephants, bats and especially birds. This summer, for example, more than 2,000 electronic ears will record the soundscape of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range, generating nearly a million hours of audio. To avoid spending multiple human lifetimes decoding it, researchers are relying on artificial intelligence. Such recordings can create valuable snapshots of animal communities and help conservationists understand, in vivid detail, how policies and management practices affect an entire population.