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Details of Award

NERC Reference : NE/Z503587/1

HumBug II: enabling large-scale acoustic monitoring for invasive insect species

Grant Award

Principal Investigator:
Dr Y Li, King's College London, Dental Institute
Co-Investigator:
Dr M Sinka, University of Oxford, Biology
Co-Investigator:
Professor K Willis, University of Oxford, Biology
Co-Investigator:
Professor S Roberts, University of Oxford, Engineering Science
Science Area:
None
Overall Classification:
Unknown
ENRIs:
None
Science Topics:
None
Abstract:
Context: Invasive insect species have the potential to outcompete or predate native species and bring disease. As mobile devices increasingly support biodiversity monitoring, acoustic detection and identification of insects opens up a new avenue to expand the coverage of biodiversity monitoring in the United Kingdom. Such technology is ideally suited for surveillance of invasive species, where the species density is initially low, meaning surveillance effort can be costly and uncertain but still has to be balanced against the potential economic cost of successful invasion. Challenge: A major challenge, in tandem with the great potential offered by mobile acoustic sensing, is the gap between the large volume of raw acoustic recordings generated through passive monitoring and the data processing capacity necessary to promptly extract valuable information from audio contents. Moreover, positive detections must be relayed swiftly to alert research communities, the wider public, and policy makers. Delays can grow excessively in a nationwide mobile acoustic monitoring programme where thousands of mobile devices record sound events as they monitor for invaders. Failing to address this challenge will limit the adoption of a mobile acoustic system for monitoring of invasive species and constrain our ability to deliver timely insights into habitat connectivity and species mobility based on acoustic sensing.
Period of Award:
1 Apr 2024 - 31 Mar 2026
Value:
£599,043
Authorised funds only
NERC Reference:
NE/Z503587/1
Grant Stage:
Awaiting Offer Acceptance
Scheme:
Research Grants
Grant Status:
Authorised
Programme:
IEM

This grant award has a total value of £599,043  

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FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)

Exception - EquipmentIndirect - Indirect CostsDA - InvestigatorsDA - Estate CostsDA - Other Directly AllocatedDI - T&S
£508,759£25,423£50,839£7,040£342£6,640

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