Passive Acoustic Monitoring

Deployment of a marine recorder in the South Taranaki Bight, New Zealand. Credit: Todd Chandler and Leigh Torres, Oregon State University.

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) of terrestrial and marine animals and ecosystem at ecologically appropriate scales has always been an integral part of the Yang Center’s work. We have extensive experience in the design and execution of PAM projects. Typically, these efforts support the assessment of:

Abundance and distribution of endangered, ecosystem-sentinel, or invasive species.
Potential negative impacts of anthropogenic activities on these species and their habitat.

We have been working on a wide variety of taxa including birds, marine and terrestrial mammals, fishes, amphibians, and insects. Collaboratively with many national and international partners, we have deployed acoustic instrumentation on every continent and in every ocean in the world.