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Nature/
Specialized fields/
Biodiversity monitoringSpecies, counted by what they sound and look like.
Biodiversity targets need evidence, and surveys by experts are slow and rare. Acoustic recorders and camera traps listen and watch continuously, edge models identify species, and experts verify. The result is a record of which species are present, where and when, shared in the standard biodiversity format.
Plan a deploymentHow it worksStation Builder- Industry
- Nature
- Measurements
- 4
- Sources cited
- 3
Nature · Biodiversity monitoring
Targets need evidence
The global biodiversity framework sets targets for 2030 and asks for monitoring of progress, and landowners and investors now need the same evidence for nature reporting. Expert surveys are slow and rare, and miss nocturnal and shy species. Continuous listening and watching fills that gap.
What is measured
Listening and watching
Acoustic recorders across habitats capture birds, frogs, insects and bats, and camera traps on trails and water points capture mammals as they pass. Weather and soil sensors at each array record the habitat conditions that explain what is heard and seen.
- Instruments
- Acoustic recorders · Camera traps · Habitat sensors
The base node
Detections, not recordings
Recorders and the node run species models, so only detections with their confidence and short clips travel. The node groups detections for expert review, and hides the locations of sensitive species before anything is shared, so evidence grows without exposing the animals.
Radio and links
Light enough for a low-power link
Because only detections travel, recorders and camera traps can send them to a gateway over a low-power radio. Where coverage exists, cellular carries detections and samples for review; remote arrays send them by satellite. Full recordings stay on the devices until the next visit.
- Links
- LoRaWAN · Public cellular · Satellite
How it works
From a call in the night to a record
At night a recorder picks up a rare owl’s call. The model flags it with high confidence and a short clip; an expert verifies it in the morning queue. The record is published with its location generalised, and the reserve manager is told the species has returned.
From order to operation · Order
Scope the targets
The scope reads the landowner’s, agency’s or programme’s targets, the species and habitats of interest, existing surveys and who will verify detections. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the array design, species models, review workflow and a price per array and per year.
Plan a deploymentFrom order to operation · Survey
Survey habitats
Crews and ecologists visit each habitat: recorder spacing for the species of interest, camera trap positions on trails and water points, gateway sites, power and backhaul. Points are placed by a sampling design so results can be compared over years.
From order to operation · Permits
Permits and sensitive species
Land owners and conservation authorities approve the array, research permits are obtained where needed, and rules are set for sensitive species locations and for any people captured by cameras. Every approval is kept with the array record. Approvals are tracked site by site, so nothing waits unseen.
From order to operation · Build
Build and train models
Recorders, camera traps, the gateway and node are configured and tested together, species models are tuned to the region’s species list and tested on local reference recordings, and devices are enrolled with their identities before shipping. Test results travel with the kit to the site.
Open the Station BuilderFrom order to operation · Install
Deploy the array
Crews fix recorders and camera traps at the sampled points, raise the gateway and node with solar power, and connect backhaul. Every point is photographed, its habitat noted and its coordinates recorded. The site record is updated before the crew leaves.
From order to operation · Commission
Commission with expert review
Each node proves its identity. The first weeks of detections are reviewed by experts, model thresholds are set so precision is known for each species, and records flow to the review queue and the data network. Results are signed and kept with the site record.
From order to operation · Operate
Count species continuously
Ecologists see detections by species, place and time, verify them in the review queue, and follow occupancy and activity through the seasons. Verified records are published, and change against targets is reported each year. Reports for owners and funders come from the same record.
From order to operation · Maintain
Swap batteries, refresh models
Crews swap batteries and cards on scheduled visits, clean cameras, replace damaged points, and refresh species models as verified records grow. Software updates roll out in rings, and every change is kept with the array record. Spares and procedures travel with the crews.
Book field servicesData products
For ecologists, owners and agencies
Ecologists and biodiversity data networks receive verified occurrence records; landowners, agencies and investors receive occupancy and activity trends; national biodiversity agencies receive progress reports against targets; reserve managers receive rare species alerts, each tied to its place, its time and the expert who verified it.
See the data productsEvidence
Verified and shared
What is measured follows the essential biodiversity variables, progress is reported against the global biodiversity framework and verified records are published in the standard occurrence format. Every detection keeps its model, confidence and verifier, so trends can be trusted and checked.
- Drawn against
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework · Essential Biodiversity Variables · Darwin Core Standard
What you get
Biodiversity and habitat monitoring
Acoustic sensors, camera traps that exclude people, eDNA sampling logistics and EO habitat change for nature programmes and disclosures. Delivered as managed service and data licence, for conservation programmes, corporates, lenders, agencies. Scale: Landscape scale. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.
Talk to salesNext step
Plan biodiversity monitoring with us
Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for biodiversity monitoring. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.
Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio
01The place and its hazards
Where it runs, and what can go wrong.
Operating contextThe global biodiversity framework sets targets for 2030 and asks countries to monitor progress, essential biodiversity variables define what to measure, and species occurrences are exchanged in a common standard. Landowners and investors increasingly need the same evidence for nature reporting.
Hazards
- Expert surveys too rare to see change
- Rare and nocturnal species missed
- Thousands of hours of recordings no one can listen to
- Identifications that cannot be checked
- Locations of sensitive species exposed to poachers
02What must be measured
What, where, how often, and under which rules.
Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.
| Measurement | Where | Cadence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Species occurrences from sound | Acoustic recorders across habitats | Continuous or on a schedule, detections daily | 12 |
| Species occurrences from images | Camera traps on trails and water points | On motion | 1 |
| Habitat conditions | Weather and soil sensors at each array | Every fifteen minutes | 1 |
| Verified occurrence records | Detections reviewed by experts | Weekly | 32 |
03The observation stack
From one base unit to a network.
The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.
- 01
Base unit
A point: an acoustic recorder or camera trap with a low-power radio for detections.
Build a station → - 02
Site
An array: points across a landscape, a gateway, an edge node running species models, solar power and backhaul.
Plan a site → - 03
Fleet
Many arrays of a landowner, agency or programme analysed as one, with one review queue for experts.
Managed offers → - 04
Network
Records are published to biodiversity data networks in the standard format, with sensitive locations protected.
The open protocol →
- 01Acoustic sensor
- 02Fixed camera
- 03Compact weather station
- 04LoRaWAN gateway
- 05Edge node (Wedge)
- 06Cellular modem/router
- 07LEO flat-panel terminal
- 08Solar array
- 09Pole
Radio and links
LoRaWAN
Recorders and camera traps send detections, not raw audio or images, to a gateway over a low-power link.
Radio and links
Public cellular
Where coverage exists, cellular carries detections and samples for review.
Radio and links
Satellite
Remote arrays send detections by satellite.
Edge computeRecorders and the node run species models, so only detections, confidence and short clips travel; the node groups detections for expert review and hides sensitive locations before anything is shared.
PowerRecorders and camera traps run on batteries for months; the gateway and node run on solar with batteries.
04How it works
From the instrument to the product.
One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.
Biodiversity monitoring: data path
– of 07
01 Instruments Measurement with sensor identity andcalibration 02 Gateway 03 Node – Wrap in an observation envelope with timequality– Measure quality and uncertainty, attachquality flags– Buffer locally (store-and-forward when thelink drops) 04 Backhaul Commit with transactional outbox andpublish, delivered at least once 05 Site Consumer inbox deduplicates and applieseach record once into governed data 06 Data store Governed product through API, map orexport, correction-aware 07 Products Darwin CoreOGC SensorThings APIMQTT 08 Power and structure Supplies 12 V DC, 24 V DC, 48 V DC to thefield equipment 01 Acoustic sensor SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 02 Fixed camera Ethernet 03 Compact weather station SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet Autonomous acousticrecorders with LoRaWANradios Not in the reference kit Camera traps with LoRaWANradios Not in the reference kit 04 LoRaWAN gateway Ethernet · RF · GNSS antenna 05 Edge node (Wedge) Ethernet · Fibre · USB · RS-485 ·BMC 06 Cellular modem/router Ethernet · USB · RS-232 07 LEO flat-panel terminal Ethernet Site MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B Governed data store Versioned, correction-aware Verified species occurrence records Occupancy and activity trends Target progress reports Rare species alerts 08 Solar array RS-485 09 Pole LoRaWAN LoRaWAN Ethernet · MQTT 5 Ethernet · RTSP/ONVIF RS-485 Ethernet Ethernet Ethernet LTE/NR Satellite IP| Item | Equipment | Data ports | Protocols | Power in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Acoustic sensorSound level meter, acoustic event detector or infrasound array element. | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC |
| 02 | Fixed cameraFixed visible-light camera for site security, scene monitoring and machine vision. | Ethernet | RTSP with ONVIF profiles, MQTT 5 | PoE |
| 03 | Compact weather stationAll-in-one or compact station for temperature, humidity, pressure, wind and rain at a site. | SDI-12RS-485Ethernet | SDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API | 12 V DC |
| 04 | LoRaWAN gatewayMulti-channel LoRaWAN gateway that forwards uplinks to a network server and schedules downlinks within duty limits. | EthernetRFGNSS antenna | LoRaWAN, MQTT 5 | PoE, 12 V DC |
| 05 | Edge node (Wedge)Rugged edge node that boots from signed media, attests itself and establishes a site cell from little or no infrastructure. | EthernetFibreUSBRS-485BMC | MQTT 5, DMTF Redfish, IEEE 1588 PTP, NTP with NTS, OPC UA | 12 V DC, 24 V DC, 48 V DC, AC mains |
| 06 | Cellular modem/routerLTE or NR modem or router that uses a public carrier or private network as backhaul. | EthernetUSBRS-232 | 3GPP E-UTRA air interface, 3GPP NR air interface, OMA LwM2M | 12 V DC, PoE |
| 07 | LEO flat-panel terminalElectronically steered flat-panel user terminal for low-Earth-orbit broadband constellations. | Ethernet | — | PoE, 48 V DC, AC mains |
| 08 | Solar arrayPV modules with charge controller sized to the site’s load and climate. | RS-485 | Modbus | — |
| 09 | PoleUtility, street or dedicated pole with clamp positions. | — | — | — |
How it scales
01 Instruments Arbitrary qualified sensors and instruments whosemeasurements are ingested with calibration, units,geometry, time, custody and uncertainty. ×n 02 Node The minimum useful deployable unit: server, ruggedappliance, radio node, sensor gateway, satelliteterminal, AI, scientific, vehicle or virtual node. Node Node agent 03 Site The minimum independently operable localgovernance and failure domain: one or more nodesplus local network, identity, policy, evidence,storage, products and operator surfaces.SITE
Node Node Node ×n 04 Cluster An optional scale or specialisation domain forscheduling, shared storage, accelerators or datalocality.CLUSTER
×n 05 Fleet Coordinates plans, acknowledgements,convergence evidence, update campaigns andcorrection propagation across nodes and sites.FLEET
Fleet controller ×n 06 Federation An exchange of products, capabilities, events orwork across approved, independently administeredtrust domains, using explicit trust, policy,data-locality, version and correction contracts.TRUST DOMAIN
TRUST DOMAIN
TRUST DOMAIN
×n Verifier Applications Data in the field Telemetry Control Data upstream Control Data upstream Control Exchange Evidence Events Exchange- Data in the field
- MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B; connectors for LoRaWAN, OPC UA and instrument buses.
- Telemetry
- OpenTelemetry OTLP.
- Control
- TLS 1.3 with mutual authentication; protobuf messages over gRPC or HTTP/2.
- Data upstream
- At-least-once publication with repeat-safe keys over the control channel or NATS JetStream; QUIC MAY be used on lossy links.
- Evidence
- DSSE-signed in-toto statements; SLSA provenance; SCITT transparency receipts.
- Events
- Event envelopes mapped to CloudEvents 1.0; channels described in AsyncAPI 3.
- Exchange
- OpenAPI 3.1; the OGC API family; SensorThings; STAC; WIS 2.0.
05From order to operation
Every step, from the first call to a running site.
The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.
- 01 Order
Scope the targets
The scope reads the landowner’s, agency’s or programme’s targets, the species and habitats of interest, existing surveys and who will verify detections. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the array design, species models, review workflow and a price per array and per year. 2
- 02 Survey
Survey habitats
Crews and ecologists visit each habitat: recorder spacing for the species of interest, camera trap positions on trails and water points, gateway sites, power and backhaul. Points are placed by a sampling design so results can be compared over years. 1
- 03 Permits
Permits and sensitive species
Land owners and conservation authorities approve the array, research permits are obtained where needed, and rules are set for sensitive species locations and for any people captured by cameras. Every approval is kept with the array record. Approvals are tracked site by site, so nothing waits unseen.
- 04 Build
Build and train models
Recorders, camera traps, the gateway and node are configured and tested together, species models are tuned to the region’s species list and tested on local reference recordings, and devices are enrolled with their identities before shipping. Test results travel with the kit to the site.
- 05 Install
Deploy the array
Crews fix recorders and camera traps at the sampled points, raise the gateway and node with solar power, and connect backhaul. Every point is photographed, its habitat noted and its coordinates recorded. The site record is updated before the crew leaves.
- 06 Commission
Commission with expert review
Each node proves its identity. The first weeks of detections are reviewed by experts, model thresholds are set so precision is known for each species, and records flow to the review queue and the data network. Results are signed and kept with the site record. 3
- 07 Operate
Count species continuously
Ecologists see detections by species, place and time, verify them in the review queue, and follow occupancy and activity through the seasons. Verified records are published, and change against targets is reported each year. Reports for owners and funders come from the same record. 21
- 08 Maintain
Swap batteries, refresh models
Crews swap batteries and cards on scheduled visits, clean cameras, replace damaged points, and refresh species models as verified records grow. Software updates roll out in rings, and every change is kept with the array record. Spares and procedures travel with the crews.
06Data products and integration
What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.
Data products
- Verified species occurrence recordsEcologists and biodiversity data networks
- Occupancy and activity trendsLandowners, agencies and investors
- Target progress reportsNational biodiversity agencies
- Rare species alertsReserve managers
Integration
- Biodiversity data networksVerified records are published in the standard occurrence format.
- Nature reportingTrends support landowners’ and investors’ nature disclosures.
- National monitoringRecords feed national reporting on the global targets.
Exchanged through Darwin Core, OGC SensorThings API, MQTT.
07Questions buyers ask
Before you scope it.
Can it identify every species?
Models cover the species they are trained for; experts verify the rest.
Do you record people?
Rules are set at the start; people in images are removed.
Will poachers see locations?
Sensitive locations are hidden before anything is shared.
Can it show change over years?
Yes. Points follow a sampling design repeated each year.
08Resources
The sources behind this page.
Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.
- 1Essential Biodiversity VariablesGroup on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network
- 2Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (CBD/COP/DEC/15/4)Convention on Biological Diversity · 2022
- 3Darwin Core StandardBiodiversity Information Standards (TDWG)
09Related
Use cases and solutions.
Use caseBioacoustic biodiversity observatory
Open-hardware acoustic recorders on solar power with low-power radio or satellite uplink, for species baselines.The full use case →SolutionBiodiversity and habitat monitoring
Acoustic sensors, camera traps that exclude people, eDNA sampling logistics and EO habitat change for nature programmes and disclosures.Solutions for nature →SolutionEdge inference for infrastructure
Models running beside the instrument on video, radar and sensor streams for assets and hazards; only results move upstream.Solutions for nature →SolutionObservation data products and evidence bundles
Licensed feeds and archives with metadata, quality flags and provenance on every value; evidence bundles for audits and claims processes.Solutions for nature →10Nature: specialized fields
Other fields of this industry.
Specialized fieldForest condition and change
Plots and towers that measure forest growth, drought stress, pests and microclimate, joined with satellite change detection to show where forests are healthy, stressed or lost.The full field →Specialized fieldPeatlands and wetlands
Water table, soil and weather stations across peatlands and wetlands, showing whether they store or release carbon and whether restoration is working.The full field →Specialized fieldLand restoration
Soil, vegetation, weather and drone surveys at restoration sites, showing whether degraded land is recovering and giving funders evidence they can audit.The full field →Bring us the site.
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