How Planet Texas 2050 is Using Cutting-Edge Technology to Monitor and Protect the State's Species and Ecosystems
From the Panhandle plains to the Rio Grande Valley, Texas’ vast and varied landscapes — deserts, prairies, wetlands and forests — are as rich in biodiversity as they are in beauty. Yet these ecosystems face mounting threats. Rapid urbanization is fragmenting habitats, while extreme weather events — hurricanes, droughts and freezes — place unprecedented stress on species.
Planet Texas 2050’s Resilience in Species and Ecosystems (RISE) project is confronting these challenges head-on, combining cutting-edge technology, ecological research and community collaboration to foster resilience for both wildlife and people. “Being able to document just how sensitive the world is to changing climates and human activities is the first step to mitigating the negative effects we’re having on the planet,” said Anthony Di Fiore, a biological anthropologist in the College of Liberal Arts and co-lead of the project.
Di Fiore, who has spent more than three decades studying Amazonian wildlife in Ecuador, brings a critical global perspective to the project. “The connections between latitudes are key,” Di Fiore said. “Many of the same species we see in the tropics are migratory or have counterparts here. Understanding those spatial dynamics is crucial.”
Joining Di Fiore is a talented team co-led by researchers spanning multiple disciplines and colleges: Eric Abelson, Shalene Jha and Timothy Keitt, from the Department of Integrative Biology in the College of Natural Sciences; Ashley Matheny from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the Jackson School of Geosciences; and Preston Wilson, from the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering. Together they are working to reshape how we think about biodiversity and resilience.
For the Birds
Di Fiore, whose work focuses on animal behavior and space use, has witnessed firsthand from his fieldwork in Ecuador how biodiversity hotspots like tropical forests face threats from urbanization and extractive industries. “The soundscape is different now than it was 10, 20 years ago,” he said. “We still have tropical forests there, there are still monkeys and insects around, but the diversity seems to be a lot lower. Whether that's due to climate change or whether it's due to human activity, or whether it's kind of a part of the natural ebb and flow, I don't think we know. But it's concerning, because you can see human impacts…. We used to motor down this river, and you'd see monkeys every couple of kilometers. Now you don't see them at all.”
The challenges faced in Ecuador mirror those in Texas: loss of biodiversity, habitat fragmentation and pressures from human development. These pressures ripple outward, affecting ecosystem services that people rely on. Birds, for example, are critical for pest control and pollination. “If you lose your birds, you might end up spending a lot more money on chemical treatments, with knock-on health effects,” Keitt said.
Beyond their ecological roles, birds offer emotional and aesthetic value, “a hedonic attribute,” Keitt said, “that we lose if we eat up our landscapes and change the climate.”
Being able to document just how sensitive the world is to changing climates and human activities is the first step to mitigating the negative effects we’re having on the planet.
— Anthony Di Fiore, Professor of Anthropology
Two birds tell the story of these ecological pressures — and the research being done to confront them.
The green jay, a tropical bird native to Central America, Mexico and southern Texas, has rapidly expanded its range over the past four decades. Using genetic analysis and ecological modeling, Keitt and his team are investigating how the species has moved north from its historic range along the Rio Grande River to areas as far west as Del Rio and as far north as San Antonio. “We’re interested in genetic diversity because it influences the capacity of the species to undergo evolutionary adaptation in this changing climate,” Keitt said.
Keitt hypothesizes that the bird’s expansion may be linked to warmer temperatures, resource availability or a combination of factors. “They may be following changes in the landscape, like woody encroachment or supplemental food from deer feeders, which buffers them against colder temperatures. Or maybe it’s a little bit of warming plus a little bit of extra food — small changes adding up to a big, nonlinear jump in their distribution. It’s a real puzzle, but it’s a fascinating story and system.”
Meanwhile, the endangered golden-cheeked warbler tells another story of adaptation — and vulnerability. The bird, which breeds exclusively in Texas’s oak-juniper woodlands, has long been a subject of study for Keitt. Its population faces challenges from urbanization, habitat fragmentation and climate change. Protecting this species has become a cornerstone of conservation efforts in the state, offering insights into how preserving biodiversity can support the resilience of ecosystems as a whole.
Sensors and Sense Abilities
RISE stands out for its integration of cutting-edge technologies with traditional ecological approaches. By combining tools like acoustic monitoring, camera traps, environmental DNA sampling and genetic research, the team is uncovering how species are adapting — or failing to adapt — to environmental changes.
It was a shared interest in spatial ecology and sensing technology in particular that brought Keitt and Di Fiore together. “We came together in this area of wildlife technology,” Di Fiore said, “and part of what the RISE project has been trying to do is focus on how we can build these autonomous environmental sensors.”
These bio-acoustic sensors are at the heart of RISE’s work, capable of collecting data on temperature, humidity, pollutants and wildlife activity. Designed to monitor ecosystems over vast areas, these tools offer a noninvasive and scalable way to study biodiversity. “These technologies allow us to passively get at some cool, important environmental data,” Di Fiore said. “Maybe they’ll show us something about the effects of climate change on animal behavior, or human behavior’s impact on animals.”
We’re interested in genetic diversity because it influences the capacity of the species to undergo evolutionary adaptation in this changing climate.
— Timothy Keitt, Professor of Integrative Biology
Preston Wilson, a professor of acoustics and dynamic systems and control, brings an additional layer of expertise to the project. His work focuses on the physics of soundscapes, using custom-designed microphones to record and analyze environmental sounds with precision.
Wilson first began using acoustic technology to study underwater environments, such as tracking the health of seagrass beds by monitoring the subtle sounds of snapping shrimp and water flow. His success in using sound to assess ecosystem health made him a natural fit for RISE. “We have such a collegial place here at UT Austin,” Wilson said. “I didn't start off thinking, ‘Oh, I'm going to study bird acoustics,’ but I teamed up with Tim [Keitt] and others, and we were able to become more than the sum of our parts by teaming up.”
Wilson’s technology doesn’t just track animal activity; it also detects subtle ecological changes, such as shifts in vegetation or water flow, by analyzing acoustic signatures. These capabilities enhance RISE’s ability to document and interpret complex environmental patterns in real time, offering a deeper understanding of how ecosystems respond to both natural and human-driven changes.
The golden-cheeked warbler is just one example of how bio-acoustic sensors and AI are helping researchers monitor bird populations. By filtering out environmental noise and isolating specific calls, the RISE team’s tools provide valuable insights into how species respond to habitat changes and other stressors.
We have such a collegial place here at UT Austin. I didn't start off thinking, "Oh, I'm going to study bird acoustics," but when I teamed up with others, we were able to become more than the sum of our parts.
— Preston Wilson, Professor of Acoustics and Dynamic Systems & Control
Birds, in general, are particularly well-suited for this type of research. “There’s so much citizen science data,” Keitt said. “So many people report their sightings.”
Integrating these data with advanced AI tools enhances researchers’ capacity to monitor and protect vulnerable populations. “The ability to monitor sites remotely and check ecosystem health through passive acoustic reporters, camera traps or video traps is incredibly powerful,” Di Fiore said. “If that data can be piped to a central repository and accessed by researchers or local collaborators, it has the potential to benefit stakeholders far beyond just biologists.”
The work being done by RISE extends beyond technology — it’s about building a sustainable future for Texas and across the world. “You want the planet to be a better place when you leave it than when you came into it,” Di Fiore said. “That’s probably not happening for any of us, but maybe, down the road, if we can convince people to live a little differently and have less of an impact, we can preserve these areas.”