Rapid acoustic surveys aim to estimate biodiversity through the acoustic diversity of sound produced by animal communities.
We simulated sound of bird assemblages and analyzed the relationship between acoustic diversity indices and species richness.
We tested sources of acoustic heterogeneity, occurring in field conditions, that could affect this relationship.
All indices varied in response to at least one of five tested sources of acoustic heterogeneity.
We proposed recommendations to reduce the effects of these sources of acoustic heterogeneity and to select appropriate indices.