Australian Bat Acoustic Data Collection
<p>This dataset is a growing collection of high-frequency echolocation calls recorded from Australian bats across a wide geographic range and over multiple decades. The calls have been collected by various bat researchers, contributors and collaborators from across Australia. Taxonomic updates have been applied where possible, such as the reclassification of species from <em>Mormopterus</em> to <em>Ozimops</em>. Users should note that some audio files may contain calls from multiple species, and in certain cases, only one of the present species has been identified.</p>
<p>The collection includes bat call files in .zc and .wav formats, encompassing both identified and unidentified calls. Each call file contains embedded information, such as collection date, GPS location, species identification (where available), and contributor details, which is extracted and used to create searchable filter options in TERN Ecoacoustic Recordings. This enables users to efficiently search for, explore, and download call files based on specific criteria through the dashboard.</p>
<p>Data have been gathered from diverse environments including national parks, research stations, and conservation areas throughout Australia.</p>
<p>The earliest recordings date back to 1989, and the dataset continues to expand. This metadata record serves as an open library for Australian bat call data, with future submissions from additional contributors expected to be added over time.</p>
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 1989-10-15
- Date (Publication)
- 2024-11-24
- Date (Revision)
- 2025-12-10
- Edition
- 1
Publisher
Author
Central Queensland University - Robson, Simon ()
114-190 Canning Street, The Range, 4700, Queensland, Australia
The Range
Queensland
4700
Australia
Author
Central Queensland University
114-190 Canning Street, The Range, 4700, Queensland, Australia
The Range
Queensland
4700
Australia
Co-author
Australian Bat Call Data Consortium
80 Meiers Road, Indooroopilly, Queensland, 4068, Australia
Indooroopilly
Queensland
4068
Australia
- Website
- https://www.tern.org.au/
- Purpose
- <p>The Australian Bat Acoustic Data Collection has two goals:</p> <ul> <li>To demonstrate the feasibility and value of long-term acoustic monitoring of echolocating bats.</li> <li>To develop an open-access online repository of bat calls and analytical techniques that captures the within and between-species diversity in call structure across Australia, in order to improve our capacity to identify all species of Australian bats based on their echolocation calls.</li> </ul>
- Credit
- We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
- Credit
- <p>This work was jointly funded by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), an Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) project, New South Wales Government Department of Environment and Conservation, and Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory.</p> <p>We gratefully acknowledge the significant contribution of Chris Corben, whose generosity and dedication to bat research have been invaluable. This collection includes over 100,000 calls recorded by Chris, many of which have been identified to species level. Notably, some of the earliest recordings date back to 1989, prior to Titley’s involvement, and were likely captured using Chris’s early setup involving a laptop and ultrasonic microphone. His efforts have greatly enriched this dataset and supported bat research globally.</p>
- Status
- On going
Point of contact
Central Queensland University
114-190 Canning Street, The Range, 4700, Queensland, Australia
114-190 Canning Street
The Range
Queensland
4700
Australia
Point of contact
Central Queensland University - Robson, Simon ()
114-190 Canning Street, The Range, 4700, Queensland, Australia
114-190 Canning Street
The Range
Queensland
4700
Australia
- Topic category
-
- Biota
- Environment
Extent
- Description
- Australia
N
S
E
W
))
Temporal extent
- Time period
- 1989-10-15
- Title
- Bat calls of New South Wales : region based guide to the echolocation of microchiropteran bats
- Website
-
Bat calls of New South Wales : region based guide to the echolocation of microchiropteran bats
Related documentation
- Title
- Key to the bat calls of the top end of the Northern Territory
- Website
-
Key to the bat calls of the top end of the Northern Territory
Related documentation
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
- GCMD Science Keywords
- ANZSRC Fields of Research
- TERN Instrument Vocabulary
- TERN Parameter Vocabulary
-
- pulse count (bat acoustic)
- Number
- pulse duration (bat acoustic)
- Millisecond
- time between pulse (bat acoustic)
- Millisecond
- characteristic frequency (bat acoustic)
- Kilohertz
- knee frequency (bat acoustic)
- Kilohertz
- start frequency (bat acoustic)
- Kilohertz
- end frequency (bat acoustic)
- Kilohertz
- mean frequency (bat acoustic)
- Kilohertz
- minimum frequency (bat acoustic)
- Kilohertz
- maximum frequency (bat acoustic)
- Kilohertz
- characteristic slope (bat acoustic)
- Octet per Second
- minimum slope (bat acoustic)
- Octet per Second
- maximum slope (bat acoustic)
- Octet per Second
- initial slope (bat acoustic)
- Octet per Second
- end slope (bat acoustic)
- Octet per Second
- curvature (bat acoustic)
- Unitless
- time-to-characteristic section
- Millisecond
- time-to-knee
- Millisecond
- QUDT Units of Measure
- GCMD Horizontal Resolution Ranges
- GCMD Temporal Resolution Ranges
- Australian Faunal Directory
-
- CHIROPTERA
- MICROCHIROPTERA
- Austronomus_australis
- Chaerephon_jobensis
- Chalinolobus_dwyeri
- Chalinolobus_gouldii
- Chalinolobus_morio
- Chalinolobus_nigrogriseus
- Chalinolobus_picatus
- Falsistrellus_mackenziei
- Falsistrellus_tasmaniensis
- Hipposideros_ater
- Hipposideros_cervinus
- Hipposideros_diadema
- Hipposideros_semoni
- Hipposideros_stenotis
- Macroderma_gigas
- Micronomus_norfolkensis
- Miniopterus_australis
- Miniopterus_orianae_oceanensis
- Miniopterus_orianae_orianae
- Myotis
- Myotis_macropus
- Nyctophilus
- Nyctophilus_arnhemensis
- Nyctophilus_bifax
- Nyctophilus_daedalus
- Nyctophilus_geoffroyi;Nyctophilus
- Nyctophilus_gouldi
- Nyctophilus_major;Nyctophilus
- Nyctophilus_sherrini
- Nyctophilus_walkeri
- Ozimops
- Ozimops_lumsdenae
- Ozimops_planiceps
- Ozimops_ridei
- Phoniscus_papuensis
- Pipistrellus
- Pipistrellus_adamsi
- Pipistrellus_westralis
- Rhinolophus
- Rhinolophus_megaphyllus;Rhinolophus
- Rhinolophus_robertsi
- Rhinonicteris_aurantia
- Saccolaimus_flaviventris
- Saccolaimus_mixtus
- Saccolaimus_saccolaimus
- Scoteanax_rueppellii
- Scotorepens
- Scotorepens_balstoni
- Scotorepens_greyii
- Scotorepens_orion
- Scotorepens_sanborni
- Setirostris_eleryi
- Taphozous
- Taphozous_georgianus
- Taphozous_kapalgensis
- Taphozous_troughtoni
- Vespadelus
- Vespadelus_caurinus
- Vespadelus_darlingtoni
- Vespadelus_finlaysoni
- Vespadelus_pumilus
- Vespadelus_regulus
- Vespadelus_troughtoni
- Vespadelus_vulturnus
- Keywords (Discipline)
-
- Bat Echolocation Call
- Microbat
- Ultrasound
- Bat Reference Call Library
Resource constraints
- Use limitation
- The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license allows others to copy, distribute, display, and create derivative works provided that they credit the original source and any other nominated parties. Details are provided at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- File name
- 88x31.png
- File description
- CCBy Logo from creativecommons.org
- File type
- png
- Title
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
- Alternate title
- CC-BY
- Edition
- 4.0
- Access constraints
- License
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
- TERN services are provided on an "as-is" and "as available" basis. Users use any TERN services at their discretion and risk. They will be solely responsible for any damage or loss whatsoever that results from such use including use of any data obtained through TERN and any analysis performed using the TERN infrastructure. <br />Web links to and from external, third party websites should not be construed as implying any relationships with and/or endorsement of the external site or its content by TERN. <br /><br />Please advise any work or publications that use this data via the online form at https://www.tern.org.au/research-publications/#reporting
- Other constraints
- Please cite this dataset as {Author} ({PublicationYear}). {Title}. {Version, as appropriate}. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. {Identifier}.
Resource constraints
- Classification
- Unclassified
Distribution Information
- Distribution format
-
Distributor
Distributor
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
80 Meiers Road, Indooroopilly, Queensland, 4068, Australia
Indooroopilly
Queensland
4068
Australia
- OnLine resource
- Ecoacoustic Recordings - Australian Bat Call Collection
- OnLine resource
- ro-crate-metadata.json
Data quality info
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Other
- <p>Identifying all species of echolocating bats based solely on their calls can be challenging - indeed, this challenge is a key motivation behind the development of this database. Variability in calls within species and the presence of overlapping call characteristics between species mean that information on geographical location can also be an important factor for accurate identification.</p> <p>We have taken the following steps to try and minimise the error rate associated with call identification and maximise the capacity for individuals to assess their own confidence in calls that are linked to a species.</p> <ol> <li> <p>Individuals submitting calls are encouraged NOT to provide species identification unless they have a very high level of certainty. We welcome unidentified calls and see them as incredibly valuable.</p> </li> <li> <p>All identified calls must include the following metadata fields:<br /> a) "Identified by" – the name of the individual who identified the call<br /> b) "ID method" – the method used to identify the call, such as observation of the call file ("Call"), observation of the bat when the recording was made ("Visual"), or identification of the bat in hand after capture ("Capture"). Other fields, such as "DNA" or an accepted auto-ID approach, would also be possible.<br /> c) "Record context" – the default for this is most likely 'free flying', but possible entries include "Release", "Enclosure", "In bag", "Cave entrance", etc. This field separates interpretation of call function from call location.</p> </li> </ol> <p>The logic for these fields is that information on who collected the data, who identified the calls, how they identified them, and where the calls were recorded can together be used to determine your own assessment of the validity of individual identifications. Some bats, for example, in some regions, can be identified correctly when flying with spotlights, by some people. Alternatively, collecting "Release" calls from tagged individuals is a common approach, but it is not uncommon to follow a tagged and released individual and actually record the calls of another untagged species interested in the bat with a strange light attached to it. Similarly, the majority of calls collected outside a <em>Miniopterus</em> roost would be <em>Miniopterus</em>, but other cave-dwelling species may also be present.</p> <p>As is true for all datasets, individuals will need to examine their data to ensure consistency.</p> <p>The ability to generate a DOI for the dataset you ultimately use represents a valuable opportunity for users to clearly identify the calls used in any subsequent analysis in a way that is accessible to all.</p>
Resource lineage
- Statement
- <p>Bat echolocation calls were recorded using a variety of ultrasonic detectors capable of capturing high-frequency calls. As this dataset was contributed by multiple individuals over time, equipment models and survey methods varied, but all recordings followed the general approach of deploying bat detectors in the field to capture active bat calls. The brand and type of instrument used to record individual files is indicated within a specific metadata field and and can be viewed and/or selected using the Filters/Instrument menu on the Bat Dashboard. The majority of calls have been recorded with Titley Electronic bat detectors but this change as recording from other manufacturers are submitted to the data base</p>
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
Reference System Information
- Reference system identifier
- EPSG/EPSG:4326
- Reference system type
- Geodetic Geographic 2D
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
-
urn:uuid/9c47fe65-86c0-4cbd-bb28-73d30c3fd6c1
- Title
- TERN GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Point of contact
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Dataset
- Metadata linkage
-
https://geonetwork.tern.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/9c47fe65-86c0-4cbd-bb28-73d30c3fd6c1
Point-of-truth metadata URL
- Date info (Creation)
- 2024-11-20T00:00:00.000000+00:00
- Date info (Revision)
- 2025-12-10T09:44:26.570231+00:00
Metadata standard
- Title
- ISO 19115-1:2014/AMD 1:2018 Geographic information - Metadata - Fundamentals
- Edition
- 1
Metadata standard
- Title
- ISO/TS 19115-3:2016
- Edition
- 1.0
Metadata standard
- Title
- ISO/TS 19157-2:2016
- Edition
- 1.0
- Title
- Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-3:2016 and ISO 19157-2:2016
- Date (published)
- 2021
- Edition
- 1.0
Identifier
Overviews
Spatial extent
N
S
E
W
Provided by
Associated resources
Not available