Root2Fork bioacoustic monitoring

Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve finally finished some light engineering for the bioacoustic monitoring work within the Root2Fork project this summer. The work requires installing monitoring stations to capture the (acoustic) biodiversity across various multi-strata agroforestry systems. The test rig is currently running in the garden with the others in storage.

Some valuable lessons learned are that it seems: 1. good hardware stores are scarce these days, 2. sourcing from large vendors which would still serve smaller businesses and low volumes is key 3. the just-in-time economics don’t really work out in times of high volatility due to geo-political unrest - luckily there was enough lead time.

In hindsight, I would also have paid to have backing plates laser or water cut instead of handling all the aluminium myself. It is easier to draft things in CAD software and have clean low waste parts cut. It would not save money on the material cost, but this generally is offset by production time.

Over the coming months I’ll test the system, and determine the ideal schedule for recording data - balancing data limitations and information content. All this being said, I’m looking forward to deploying all stations over the late summer and fall. A complete write up of the system will follow at a later date.

biodiversity on BlueGreen Labs

Root2Fork bioacoustic monitoring