Abstract: Here I'll explore a new frontier in ecosystem monitoring (spatial ecoacoustics and sound source localisation) through the development of a low-cost, open-source recording device: MAARU. MAARU (Multichannel Autonomous Acoustic Recording Unit) is a solar-powered and field-robust 6-microphone acoustic recorder which can be used to add a spatial dimension to ecosystem monitoring. I'll talk about MAARUs development and how we have used it to explore bird behaviour and create better proxies for animal abundance.