Ecoacoustics
Species that can be surveyed using these techniques include; bats, birds, and amphibians such as natterjack toad. We can also monitor the biodiversity of animals in freshwater including; water-boatmen, beetles and fish, and animals in soil such as earthworms, centipedes and woodlice.
The outputs from our surveys can be used for Environmental Impact Assessment, or within longer-term monitoring projects, enabling the success of projects to assessed, whether these are for Biodiversity Net Gain, rewilding or agricultural land management.
Why Baker Consultants?
Our ecoacoustic team offers an effective, scaleable and robust alternative to conventional survey techniques that can be more cost-efficient and defensible than standard approaches. Baker Consultants is at the forefront of developing these methods in the UK and globally, actively developing innovative new guidance and demonstration case-studies, backed-up by peer-reviewed research.
Our ecoacoustics service can be applied to development-related projects within an Environmental Impact Assessment framework, but is also particularly useful for long-term monitoring projects, such as for Biodiversity Net Gain, rewilding, conservation or agri-environment schemes.
Pioneers of Ecoacoustic Methods
The ecoacoustic team at Baker Consultants is leading the way in developing innovative methods, protocols and guidance for acoustic assessments of biodiversity. Research we have undertaken for DEFRA, Natural England and with a number of key universities is challenging the status quo of traditional survey methods and moving the industry towards better practice. In 2020 we won the Best Practice Award for Innovation at the CIEEM Awards for our pioneering work with heathland birds bioacoustic monitoring.
We have produced guidance for long-term ecoacoustic monitoring in terrestrial habitats, surveying ponds, and recording bird assemblages. These publications have helped transform cutting-edge scientific research into practical methods for consultants, conservationists and regulators.
Dr. Carlos Abrahams, Director of Bioacoustics, has built our ecoacoustic team in parallel with the delivery of existing ecology services at Baker Consultants. He has unique experience in integrating the commercial applications of acoustic methods with scientific research. In particular, he is keen to develop knowledge exchange, so that evidence-based ecoacoustic methods can be employed in real-world applications, and by a wide range of participants.
Karthik Ashok is the ecoacoustic team’s Data-Scientist and Database Developer. He has international experience in the analysis of acoustic data from terrestrial and aquatic habitats.