Daily and Seasonal Dynamics of Mixed Forest Biodiversity in the Moscow Region According to Acoustic Monitoring Data

The Moscow agglomeration is one of the largest in the world and the largest in Russia. Natural landscapes here influenced by the strongest anthropogenic impact, manifested in the increase of landscape fragmentation and reduction of natural habitats. Monitoring of biodiversity and study of species behavior patterns under anthropogenic pressure is one of the important goals of ecoacoustics—a scientific discipline at the interface of geography and ecology, which is only beginning to develop in Russia. In this work, the main subject of research is the diurnal and seasonal dynamics of avifauna of the temperate forests of European Russia. The key study sites were the mixed forests of the western Moscow Region ecopark “Nachiniye,” the park “Korsar” and the preserve “Zvenigorod Biological Station”. Audio data were collected by passive acoustic monitoring using Song Meter SM4 devices between January 2020 and October 2021. Five major acoustic indices were calculated using the R “seewave” package. Statistical analysis showed the relationship of bird vocalizations with the time of day, the season of the year, and the place of recording. The hourly changes in acoustic indices by seasons of the year for the temperate forests of the Moscow region were identified. Our results slightly differ from the previously identified regularities. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.