Science · Woodland batsEngland woodland bats: AI helps analyse over 98 million callsAired October 30, 2026 at 2:56 PM UTCWritten October 30, 2026 at 3:03 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:07Recorders captured more than ninety-eight million bat calls in England's woodlands.0:10AI is helping researchers identify species and potentially overlooked habitat for0:14vulnerable bats.0:15How much can those recordings tell us about which woodlands need protection?0:19The National Woodland Bat Survey collected two hundred and seventeen terabytes of0:23recordings from three hundred and ten woodland sites.0:25Those totals sharpen the earlier description of more than ninety million calls from0:29more than three hundred woodlands.0:30The earlier figures were lower bounds, so the more precise numbers fit within them.0:35An individual bat can call repeatedly.0:37Researchers can use those sounds to investigate activity and identify species.0:41But turning call totals into animal numbers would give a misleading picture of how0:45many bats live in these woods.0:47The survey covers English woodlands with devices recording over three years.0:51Barbastles have reportedly been detected in previously unrecorded areas, especially0:55southwest England.0:56The three hundred and ten sites represent a sample of English woodland rather than0:59equivalent coverage across the whole United Kingdom.1:01Forest Research and the Bat Conservation Trust lead the project.1:04DIFRA funds it through its natural capital and ecosystem assessment program.1:08The partnership has operated since2020 .1:11One.1:12That partnership date is separate from the three-year recording period, whose exact1:16beginning and end haven't been specified.1:17The barbastelle is classified as vulnerable in both Great Britain and England.1:22Finding this rare bat in a woodland where its presence had gone unrecorded could1:25change how that habitat's importance is understood, giving conservationists a reason1:30to examine it more closely.1:31A first record tells us that a bat was detected there.1:34Better listening can reveal animals that earlier surveys missed.1:37Researchers would need other evidence to show that barbastelles are moving into new1:40territory, breeding there, or increasing in number.1:43The new detections alone can't demonstrate population recovery.1:47AI detects bat sounds and helps classify calls by species using patterns and1:51spectrograms.1:52These are pictures of sound across frequency and time.1:54The Bat Conservation Trust's sound classification system processes the recordings,1:58while verification separates an automated label from a checked biological record.2:02University College London, known as UCL, is involved in the project.2:06At this scale, analysing the audio by hand would be extremely laborious.2:10Automated processing makes the collection more practical to use, but the2:13conservation value depends on how reliably researchers identify the species behind2:17the calls.2:18The project's20204 example dataset explicitly contains unvalidated automated call2:23classifications.2:23For a rare species, checking a label has practical consequences.2:27A woodland's apparent importance could depend on whether researchers can confirm2:30that the call really belongs to that bat.2:32A separate dataset contains verified bat activity records.2:36The example's unvalidated status applies to that example, while the verified dataset2:40provides checked activity evidence.2:42Its existence doesn't mean all ninety-eight million calls were individually checked.2:46The survey, wideshare verified, isn't clear.2:48All UK bats depend on woodland for feeding, roosting, or traveling between places.2:53That makes the survey useful beyond the rare species discoveries.2:56A clearer picture of which species use different woods can help researchers identify3:00important habitat and guide future woodland management.3:03The recordings can reveal where bats are active and help identify habitat that3:07deserves closer attention.3:08Turning that information into conservation decisions requires clearly documented3:12species records.3:13The survey's practical promise rests on connecting verified detections with the3:17woods those animals use.3:18The next details needed are which woodlands contain the newly recorded barbastelles,3:23how those detections were checked, and what management decisions will follow.3:26No specific management change or measured improvement in bat populations has yet3:30been demonstrated by this survey.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSS
