Monday 16
Applications I

› 17:00 - 17:15 (15min)
› Rouelle Conference Hall
Assessing structural complexity of temperate agroforestry systems using soundscape analysis
Christopher Bobryk  1@  , Christine Rega  2@  , Sougata Bardhan  3@  , Almo Farina  4@  , Hong He  5@  , Shibu Jose  6@  
1 : Department of Forestry, University of Missouri  -  Website
203 Anheuser Busch Natural Resources Building, Columbia, MO 65211 -  United States
2 : Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Missouri  -  Website
302 Anheuser Busch Natural Resources Building, Columbia, MO 65211 -  United States
3 : The Center for Agroforestry, University of Missouri  -  Website
203 Anheuser Busch Natural Resources Building, Columbia, MO 65211 -  United States
4 : University of Urbino
Campus Scientifico 61029 Urbino, Italy -  Italy
5 : Department of Forestry, University of Missouri
203 Anheuser Busch Natural Resources Building, Columbia, MO 65211 -  United States
6 : The Center for Agroforestry, University of Missouri
203 Anheuser Busch Natural Resources Building, Columbia, MO 65211 -  United States

The homogenization of the landscape is threatening to weaken ecosystem function by minimizing structural complexity. This is evident in agricultural systems where intensification has created major disparities in ecosystem functions by reducing variations in structure across landscapes. Agroforestry is an integrated, land-use option that supports ecosystem properties coupled with socioeconomic benefit by incorporating trees and grasses with traditional agricultural crops. The developing field of soundscape analysis is a practical tool for describing complex phenomena and presents an effective approach for assessing and monitoring ecological functions across integrated land-use systems. A small-scale study was conducted using low-cost recorders (LCR) within varying agroforestry systems to test the utility of the acoustic complexity index (ACI) as an indicator for ecosystem structure along 4 land-use types (mixed hardwood forest, alley-cropping, silvopasture, and monoculture). Preliminary results indicated a relationship between ACI as a function of gradients in complexity (R-sqr. = 0.38) and soundscape composition (R-sqr. = 0.58). This study is a first step in understanding how soundscape analysis may be used as an assessment tool for indicating ecosystem dynamics within integrated agroforestry systems. 


Online user: 2 RSS Feed