A lightweight deep-learning detector for the real-time monitoring of the invasive frogs Rhinella marina and Polypedates leucomystax

Source abstract

Abstract Early detection of invasive species is critical to efficiently managing biological invasions. Passive acoustic monitoring combined with deep learning has become an effective tool for identifying invasive anurans from their species-specific mating calls. In practice, however, these systems still depend on manually retrieving recordings and running inference on a dedicated workstation, which delays detection at invasion fronts, especially on remote islands where frequent travel is impractical. Here, we present a lightweight convolutional neural network for detecting Rhinella marina and Polypedates leucomystax that can be used with low-power microcontrollers, enabling continuous, real-time monitoring of these invasive species. Our model achieved a mean invasive-species F 1 of 0.87 with precision higher than 0.88 for both species, comparable to the performance of substantially larger models at a fraction of the model size. Cross-domain evaluation confirmed reliable detection on two out-of-training locations: Iriomote Island, Japan, and on an independent dataset from Australia, demonstrating generalization across recording conditions and biogeographic contexts, albeit with local threshold calibration for P. leucomystax at Iriomote. Our results demonstrate that effective acoustic detection of invasive species is feasible on self-contained, battery-powered devices, removing the dependence on server infrastructure and enabling autonomous early warning systems in remote protected areas.