Costa Rica Is Saving Forest Ecosystems by Listening to Them
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Summary
Monica Retamosa has been working in the field of bioacoustics and ecoacoustics for 10 years in the International Institute for Conservation and Wildlife Management at the National University of Costa Rica.
She is currently researching the sounds of more than half a million species in the region by listening to recordings made over months and using AI to analyse the data.
Bioacoustics involves the study of the sounds that organisms make, while ecoacoustics incorporates the sounds made by humans and the natural landscape to allow for greater analysis; Retamosa uses both to gain a deeper understanding of the local ecosystem, and uses the data to inform conservation strategies.
One ongoing project in the AmistOsa Biological Corridor uses recordings of bellbirds to track their migration patterns and inform conservation efforts.
Recording devices can be hung up to record for months, sending back vast amounts of data that use complex mathematical formulas, or acoustic indices, to allow researchers to analyse traits such as acoustic complexity and entropy.
