SAFE Acoustics: an open-source, real-time eco-acoustic monitoring network in the tropical rainforests of Borneo

Automated monitoring approaches offer an avenue to unlocking large-scale insight into how ecosystems respond to human pressures. However, since data collection and data analyses are often treated independently, there are currently no open-source examples of end-to-end, real-time ecological monitoring networks. Here, we present the complete implementation of an autonomous acoustic monitoring network deployed in the tropical rainforests of Borneo. Real-time audio is uploaded remotely from the field, indexed by a central database, and delivered via an API to a public-facing website. We provide the open-source code and design of our monitoring devices, the central web2py database, and the ReactJS website. Furthermore, we demonstrate an extension of this infrastructure to deliver real-time analyses of the eco-acoustic data. By detailing a fully functional, open source, and extensively tested design, our work will accelerate the rate at which fully autonomous monitoring networks mature from technological curiosities, and towards genuinely impactful tools in ecology.