BioSoundSCape: A bioacoustic dataset for the Fynbos Biome
Most biodiversity data are collected at fine spatial scales, but threats to species and ecosystems occur at broad spatial scales. Remote sensing allows broad-scale assessment of biodiversity but these data need to be ground-truthed with contemporaneous in situ datasets. Various faunal groups produce sounds or vocalizations which can then be related to remotely-sensed data. As part of the NASA-led BioSCape project, the BioSoundSCape project deployed Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs), which record sounds in an approximately 50 m radius, at 521 sites spread across an area of approximately 119,058 km<sup>2</sup> in the Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa, during the wet and dry seasons of 2023. The ARUs recorded sounds one in every ten minutes, over 4-10 days, producing 825,832 minutes of recordings (approximately 400,000 minutes of recording in each season). These sound data are georeferenced to within 20 m, with time and date information, so may be useful for relating biodiversity patterns in soundscapes to vegetation structure, fire history, plant phenology, distance to roads and other human infrastructure.
Authors
- Festus O. Adegbola (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2103-4114)
- Monique Fuchs
- Fabian Schneider (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1791-2041)
- Grant S. Joseph (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8731-9828)
- Matthew L. Clark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5953-2990)
- Andrew Turner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0505-4561)
- John Measey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9939-7615)
- Leonardo Salas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8801-548X)
- David Leland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7931-2223)
- Jacky Spiby
- Wendy Schackwitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3013-9180)
- Alan TK Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5858-9351)
- Colleen L. Seymour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6729-2576)
- António Ferraz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5328-5471)
- Christina Hagen
- Johan Huisamen
- Rose L. Snyder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5487-4518)
- Sally Hofmeyr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2655-9374)
- Daniël Cloete
- Eugéne Hahndiek
- Saskia Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6231-3297)
- Jacques Van Rooi
- Simphiwe Madlala
- Patty Taljaard
Institutions
- Point Blue Conservation Science (US)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US)
- University of Cape Town (ZA)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Wetlands International (NL)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Stellenbosch University (ZA)
- South African National Biodiversity Institute (ZA)
- GDA (United States) (US)
- University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
- University of the Western Cape (ZA)
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Data
- Published
- 2025-08-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05685-3
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.28
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration