Sound Advice: A calibration framework for defining detection space in Passive Acoustic Monitoring

Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) has emerged as a transformative tool for biodiversity assessment in recent years. Despite widespread acceptance and application for conservation-related outcomes, the synergistic effects of hardware limitations, signal propagation, and environmental conditions on how far a signal can be reliably detected remain critically understudied. We quantified changes in signal detectability using Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) in a tropical agroecosystem using playback experiments of standardised pure-tone (1–8 kHz) in fallow rice paddy fields. We deployed a four-ARU array and broadcast signals over a 50– 300 m distance gradient, and modelled operative detectability of signals using a binomial Generalised Linear Mixed-effects Model (GLMM). Our findings show that the ‘detection space’ of an ARU is highly frequency-dependent and environmentally modulated. Detection probability for low-frequency signals (1 kHz) decreased rapidly (50% threshold at ∼100 m), whereas mid-range frequencies (4–6 kHz) occupied an acoustic window that remained reliably detectable up to 250 m. Higher relative humidity significantly enhanced overall detection, while increasing temperatures disproportionately reduced low-frequency detectability. The orientation of the ARU to the signal source was important as the detection probability declined from 81% for recorders facing the source (0°) to 14% for rear-facing units (180°). Our findings underscore the importance of determining the detection space before undertaking PAM. We propose a ‘Decision Support Framework’ that provides a pathway for researchers to integrate focal taxa traits with technical constraints to determine detection space and optimise study designs when using PAM for monitoring biodiversity and assessing conservation action.