Monica Retamosa is She heard the bell for the first time while replacing the battery of the tape recorder. She stood on the forest floor, looking up at the trees, scanning the source of it Metal and powerful soundlooking for a bird for half an hour, to no avail. The bell bird sings from the treetops, where it is visible to its peers, but not to those below. Still, Retamosa smiled: She cared for the ecosystem by listening to the Amistosa Bio Corridor in Costa Rica.
In nature, creatures can almost use sound. They call to attract partners, communicate identity, warn of danger, guide the road and help hunt or defense. Researchers have been recording sound recorders for decades, but still using remote recording devices, but are still tracking species. The study of sound organisms is called Biological Acoustics. Retamosa has been in this job for 10 years.
Research shows that using bioacoustic records, some birds shouted to make themselves hear their voices in the city, while turtles’ hatch forests communicated from their nests to coordinate their hatching. Deeper ecological significance can be explained when bioacoustics are combined with other sounds (those made from humans and natural sounds of the landscape (such as wave collapse). Changes in biodiversity can be monitored, threats can be detected and conservation strategies can be measured. The effectiveness of the sound. A broader analysis of sound is called ecological acoustics, which is exactly what Costa Rica works.
Retamosa has worked for 20 years at the National University of Costa Rica at the School of International Conservation and Wildlife Management. She uses bioacoustics and ecological acoustics to investigate the sounds of this small Central American country with more than 500,000 species.
“From a protection point of view, the sound is forgotten,” Retamosa said. “Most of the time, we hear more than we can hear. When interference occurs in the system, we can detect it faster than other factors.” or lack of sound.”
The development of automatic recording has revolutionized bioacoustics and ecological acoustics. Now, the team can hang a sensor that records segments of a day for months at a time without disturbing wildlife. Retamosa likes this strategy because it is not invasive to animals, making it easier to have ears in large areas and difficult to reach places, and sometimes helps to discover mysterious species.
Although she prefers to monitor the ecosystem from a distance, Retamosa still has to go deep into the forest to build a recorder. Visiting the field is fascinating, but never a Sunday stroll. She hiked miles with her colleagues Jimmy Barrantes and Randall Jiménez. They are up and down endless slopes. Once, she fell and broke her bones. But the work doesn’t end with installation: they have to go back to change the battery and memory card. In other countries, they use solar panels and the internet to receive real-time data; in the dark, wet rainforest of Costa Rica, it is still done by hand.
