Salient_Characteristics_1.pdf

Salient Characteristics

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

A. This project will require rugged, field‐ready autonomous recording units (ARU) to support an Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) efficacy study on Maui that will provide state and federal resource managers with optimized bird and IIT efficacy monitoring tools to effectively manage avian disease through landscape‐level mosquito control across Hawaii. This study closely aligns with the Department of the Interior Strategy for Preventing the Extinction of Hawaiian Forest Birds Objective 1, which is to develop and deploy IIT to reduce the mosquito vector of avian malaria by 2026.

B. Background. In Hawaii, the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) is a conservation action that aims to increase survivorship and reproductive success of native threatened and endangered birds by suppressing mosquito populations that impact birds through disease transmission. Native bird demographic response to IIT is a key component of assessing the efficacy of the IIT in Hawaii. Autonomous recording units (ARU) are self‐contained audio recording devices that can be used to record bird sounds in the wild and will be leveraged in this study to assess IIT efficacy as a conservation action. We will use ARUs to collect fine‐scale data on bird abundance and distribution using recorded sounds before and after release of incompatible, Wolbachia‐infected Culex mosquitoes, at release and control sites on Maui. Reliable, rugged, and small acoustic monitors are needed for project objectives to be met.

C. Definitions of terms. Song meters, or Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs), record and save sound files. These song meters run on three AA batteries and saves audiofiles on a pre‐programmed schedule onto SDXC sound cards.

D. Scope. Purchase 80 song meters for use across wet forests on Maui at locations where

IIT mosquito releases will occur concurrently and after treatment for a period of 1.5 years.

II. REQUIREMENTS

A. Technical Requirements

1. Specific work requirements:

80 lightweight song meters with field‐ready weather‐proof casing.

Will be deployed into the field during September 2023 at a minimum of two sites on Maui.

Must be a small wildlife audio recorder that is field‐ready for the deployment in wet Hawaiian forests where heavy rain and high humidity conditions are typical.

Must be housed in a durable, rain‐ and weather‐proof case

Must be lightweight and compact to allow for ease of deployment. (Weight restrictions are necessary because monitors will be deployed by foot across rugged, inaccessible forest habitats on Maui.)

Must have change settings and can be schedule wirelessly via Bluetooth

Must saves audiofiles on a pre‐programmed schedule onto SDXC sound cards

Must be highly programmable to different sampling schedules, a key requirement for automatic audio data collection in an isolated location.

Song meters must have the capacity in memory and hardware to record daily sounds for 6 weeks, when sound files will be downloaded from devices, batteries changed, and units redeployed.

Song meters will be delivered USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.