A Web-Based Tool for of the Recognition of Anuran Vocalizations
Michael E. Dorcas
Davidson College
Learn North Carolina's Frog Calls
Introduction
The development of ecological skills
is becoming an important component of many undergraduate biology curricula.
An increasingly important ecological skill involves the ability to properly
monitor animal populations. Over the last decade, recognition of a major decline
in many amphibian populations worldwide has increased the need for effective
amphibian monitoring programs. Amphibians are an especially important component
of ecosystems because many species can serve as bioindicators of overall environmental
health. Consequently, amphibian monitoring programs have been initiated in nearly
all states. The major components of most amphibian monitoring programs, and
the only component of many, are call surveys of anuran (frog and toad) populations.
Training undergraduate students in anuran call recognition will allow students
to participate and even initiate amphibian monitoring programs. Unfortunately,
the typical method for learning to identify anurans from their calls involves
listening to cassette tapes or CD's that encompass broad regions of the country
(e.g., Eastern United States). There are several problems with this method:
1) students must listen to the calls of many species that do not occur in their
local area to "get to" the species that they are interested in, 2) students
do not have random access to the calls and always hear them in the same order
(i.e, tapes are sequential in nature), 3) students have no visual cues (i.e.,
images of the frogs) or other information to increase retention of the material,
4) most tapes provide only isolated calls without other species or background
sounds as occurs in nature, and 5) most tapes do not provide evaluation tools
to determine your learning progress.
I propose to develop a web-based
auditory teaching system for recognition of anuran vocalizations of the Southeastern
United States that overcomes each of the problems stated above. The system will
allow students to listen to a subset of calls that occur only in their area.
Additionally, the system will provide ancillary information about the natural
history and breeding season of each species and photographs of each species.
Students will be able to access calls in any order (i.e., not sequentially like
tape systems) and calls of various anuran choruses with multiple species calling
simultaneously will be provided. And finally, an evaluation section will provide
opportunities for students to take on-line anuran call identification quizzes
and thus test their skills as they develop.
Methods
Several steps will be required
to establish the web-based tool for the recognition of anuran vocalizations.
First, calls of all anuran species found in the Southeastern United States
will be acquired. I have already recorded many of these in high-quality
analog format (i.e., cassette tape). Calls not yet recorded will be recorded
with a Sony Minidisc Digital Recorder or solicited from colleagues at other
institutions (e.g., Cornell Library of Natural Sounds). Second, photographs
of all anuran species in the southeastern United States will be obtained
and scanned at an appropriate resolution. I have personal photographs of
many species and others that I need will be obtained from colleagues (i.e.,
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences). Third, a web site will
be developed that provides a photograph of each species, important natural
history characteristics of each species, and a link to its call or calls.
Fourth, an interactive quiz section will be provided in which students
can listen to calls of species in their region and fill in their best guess
for each species identification. This quiz will be designed using WebAssign
Software. As part of the quiz, students will be provided not only with
individual calls of particular species, but with choruses in which several
species are calling simultaneously. Feedback from Web Assign quizzes will
allow students to evaluate immediately their mastery of the material.
How will this approach enhance
teaching and/or student learning?
A web-based tool for of
the recognition of anuran vocalizations will enhance teaching for two of
my courses and will potentially be used in other courses here at Davidson
College. I teach Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and Herpetological
Investigations. Both of these courses require students to be familiar with
field identification of frogs and toads, especially their calls. This web-based
teaching system will be available to multiple users simultaneously, at
all hours, from anywhere with web access, and will provide an excellent
method to acquire anuran call identification skills. (Students at Davidson
have internet access from their dorm rooms, in addition to the many computer
labs located on campus.) The Web Assign quizzes will allow me to evaluate
students progress but the real test will be when I take students into the
field. Additionally, our Vertebrate Field Zoology course, taught by Dr.
Mark Stanback, takes several field trips where identification of vertebrates
is emphasized. The web site will be available to Dr. Stanback's students.
This web site will have
open access to anyone that wishes to use it and will be valuable to faculty
at other ACS institutions that teach courses stressing field identification
of animals (i.e., vertebrate zoology, herpetology, etc.). Additionally,
many natural resource managers and personnel (e.g., state parks, Nature
Conservancy, etc.) will find the site useful in their work.
What Technical Expertise Will Be
Sought from ASC Institutions?
Fortunately, all expertise necessary
for this project is found in either the biology or physics departments
at Davidson College. I have expertise in anuran identification in the United
States, especially by call. I have also conducted a considerable amount
of audio digitization for testing audible surveying devices. Additionally,
I have some expertise in web design (Dorcas home page: http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Biology/midorcas/dorcas_home.htm).
Dr. Wolfgang Christian, a physics professor at Davidson College, has expertise
using Web Assign as does Dr. Malcolm Campbell in Biology. All server
space, computer time, supplies, recording and digitizing equipment is already
in place in the Biology Department at Davidson College.
How/When
Will the Project be Integrated into the Curriculum and How Will Its Effectiveness
be Assessed.
As stated above, this web site will
be used in at least two, and probably three courses at Davidson College.
Students in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and Herpetological Investigations
will use this site to become proficient at identification of local anuran
species. Additionally, Vertebrate Field Zoology students will potentially
use this site as a tool for learning identification of local anurans. Students
in my classes will begin using the web site the next time these courses
are offered (e.g., Spring semester of 2001).
Assessment of the effectiveness of
this site will be evaluated in two ways. First, results of Web Assign quizes
will provide me with an effective tool for easily monitoring student's
progress. However, the real test will be when students are taken into the
field. Students will be taken at night into the field locally and at other
sites (e.g., the Savannah River Site, SC) and will be field tested to determine
the effectiveness of the web site as a teaching tool.
How
Will the Results of this Project be Shared with Colleagues at Other ACS Institutions.
Because this will be a web site open
to anyone with internet access, it will be available to anyone wishing to learn
auditory identification techniques of anurans of the Southeast. Once the site
is established, I will provide faculty at other institutions the opportunity
to link to the site in addition to the link provided by the ACS Technology Program
web site. Links from conservation and herpetological associations will also
be established and advertised wherever possible. In the future, other regional
modules (e.g., Northeastern United States) can be added to the web site.