Utilizing the Cyberforest live sound system with social media to remotely conduct woodland bird censuses in Central Japan.
We have developed a system that streams and archives live sound from remote areas across Japan via an unmanned automatic camera. The system was used to carry out pilot bird censuses in woodland; this allowed us to examine the use of live sound transmission and the role of social media as a mediator in remote scientific monitoring. The system has been streaming sounds 8 h per day for more than five years. We demonstrated that: (1) the transmission of live sound from a remote woodland could be used effectively to monitor birds in a remote location; (2) the simultaneous involvement of several participants via Internet Relay Chat to listen to live sound transmissions could enhance the accuracy of census data collection; and (3) interactions through Twitter allowed members of the public to engage or help with the remote monitoring of birds and experience inaccessible nature through the use of novel technologies.
Department of Natural Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, 277-8563, Japan. kaoru@nenv.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Kaoru
K
Saito
Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, 277-8568, Japan. k_nakamura@csis.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Kazuhiko
K
Nakamura
Japan Bird Research Association, 1-29-9 Sumiyoshi-cho, Fuchu City, Tokyo, 183-0034, Japan. mj-ueta@bird-research.jp.
Mutsuyuki
M
Ueta
Japan Bird Research Association, 1-29-9 Sumiyoshi-cho, Fuchu City, Tokyo, 183-0034, Japan. kurosawa@bird-research.jp.
Reiko
R
Kurosawa
Fuji Iyashinomori Woodland Study Center, University of Tokyo, 341-2 Yamanaka, Yamanakako-mura, Minamitsuru-gun, Yamanashi, 401-0501, Japan. akio@uf.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Akio
A
Fujiwara
Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, 277-8568, Japan. kobayashi@csis.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Hill Hiroki
HH
Kobayashi
Information Technology Center, University of Tokyo, 2-11-16, Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan. nakayama@nc.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Masaya
M
Nakayama
Department of Regional Development Studies, Toyo University, 5-28-20, Hakusan, Bukyo-ku, Tokyo, 1123-8606, Japan. toko@toyo.jp.
Ayako
A
Toko
Department of Natural Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, 277-8563, Japan. nagahama@nenv.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Kazuyo
K
Nagahama
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D019352:Censuses; D003625:Data Collection / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D065928:Forests; D007564:Japan; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology; D061108:Social Media; D014828:Vocalization, Animal
Archive; Audio census; Cyberforest; Live sound; Remote monitoring; Social media