biodiverse/earth
our biodiverse/earth commission by Imperial Lates explores human impact on the forests of Costa Rica. we present biologist Jenna Lawson’s findings as an immersive audio-visual experience, journeying from tropical rainforests untouched by human hands to disturbed plantations of palm and teak, where a haunting silence exists due to the loss of life as natural forest ecosystems are removed
it is our hope that from this experience, you can better understand the sheer diversity of life in our world, and the startling loss when we destroy these incredible ecosystems for everyday products that we all use, while immersing yourself in the sounds of the natural world. the results from Lawson’s research will be used to understand the threats that exist and guide the protection and restoration of native forests, connect forest fragments and increase populations of the spider monkey
using sounds collected during Jenna’s research, John Hooper has constructed a journey through the forest. we begin at dawn with the natural sounds of the spider monkeys home and from there approach the edge of a plantation. the sounds of the spider monkeys fade away and the patches of land turned over to plantations ring out with the sound of insects. here, John has overlaid the ghostly sounds of animals which would have once roamed these areas before the intervention of humanity. the ghostly sounds are made from Jenna's recordings of spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, macaws and toucans. John has layered them and changed the speed and pitch to suggest a disruption of the natural world. from the plantation we return to the natural sounds of Los Planes where the animals return. we repeat the process traveling through another plantation and ending in Piedras Blancas. the disparity between these environments is truly brought home to use via the soundscapes, acting as not only a sonic break but a break in the natural order
Steve Aishman wrote a JavaScript program that makes drawings based on the interactions of various sounds. whenever a sound reaches a certain level, it makes a ring that then diffractively interacts with other rings from other sounds creating an effect like ripples interacting on a surface. the rings in the drawings are based in a program called “Ripples” by Saiki, S. (2019)
SC: what impact does losing the rainforest have on climate change?
JL: Rainforests release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, without them there would be much more carbon dioxide present, increasing the rate of climate change and its devastating effects. Rainforests also regulate weather patterns, especially rainfall and temperatures.
can you list the species that have gone extinct in the Costa Rican forests?
The Giant Anteater and Golden Toad are known to have gone extinct from Costa Rica. In Costa Rica our concern is more about the species that have disappeared from most areas of the country and remain only in a few pockets of forest. These species include the Spider Monkey, Bairds Tapir, Scarlet Macaw, Great Green Macaw, Central American Squirrel Monkey, White Lipped Peccary, Jaguar, Margay and more. You will notice most missing species are mammals, however many thousands more invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles will have gone extinct or be endangered and at risk of extinction. Sadly, this is happening before we have even discovered them.
what happens to the ecosystem when one plant/ animal goes extinct?
Keystone or Umbrella species is a term which describes a species which is relied upon. If a “keystone” or “Umbrella Species” is removed, it can have devastating effects on the surrounding ecosystem. Some species are more important than others in maintaining the functioning of the ecosystem that they inhabit. The spider monkey is one of these species, they are the engineers of the forests. Spider monkeys are playing a key role in seed dispersal, shaping the structure of the forests and creating food and habitat for other species.
what choices/ actions that we take in the UK are impacting the forests of Costa Rica?
We can be more sustainable in our choices of many products. Much of the food that we eat comes from Costa Rica and other similar forests in the tropics, such as bananas, pineapples, coffee, chocolate, palm and coconut based products. Production of these products generally means loss and fragmentation of forests, and therefore the lungs of our earth and the homes of the millions of species that call these forests home. Buying sustainably is one way of reducing our impacts on the forests of Costa Rica and others like it.
what did you feel when you stood in the forest and listened to the animals, after previously researching it?
I have always appreciated nature and wildlife, however after studying acoustics across different landscapes, I have truly begun to understand just how silent some areas are and how the lack of sound reflects the loss of life due to our actions.
did being within the forest make you think about the history of life on Earth?
Yes, you stand in forests that are thousands of years old, older than anything humanity has made and it is very sad to see humans destroying something this irreplaceable.
why are biological corridors important for the Spider Monkey and for the ecosystems of the Costa Rican forests?
Biological corridors link areas of habitat that were separated by habitat fragmentation, usually due to the construction of roads, urban areas and to make way for agriculture. They allow for movement between isolated populations and increased genetic flow, which in turn increases the fitness of populations.
what is the future of these forests? what needs to change?
The future for these forests is uncertain, if human expansion and encroachment on natural habitat continues and forests are replaced by agriculture and plantations, then we will continue to lose biodiversity and the existing forest ecosystems will collapse.
Collaborators
Jenna Lawson
Jenna Lawson is a biologist from the UK and has worked on ecology and conversation projects from Scotland to Peru. For the last 5 years, she has worked in the neotropical forests of Costa Rica. Lawson began her PhD at Imperial College London in 2017, here she uses acoustics to understand the biodiversity of the forests. Within her research Lawson is attempting to understand more about the areas primate populations and the threats that these species face within these ecosystems.
John Hooper
John Hooper is a photographer, film maker and sound artist. John started his photography career shooting for lifestyle magazines at the beginning of the millennium. Having shot many artists, musicians and actors over 20 years, John's experience as a photographer and director of photography has led him to collaborate on projects for numerous commissions. John is co-director of Pale Blue Dot Collective, Print Science and is a regular contributor to super/collider. He has been using his photography and sound practice to discover the natural world and the vastness above.
In 2014 John started recording sound using a simple hand held recorder under the moniker Landsounds. He has used sound recording to develop projects for The Canal and River Trust, Virgin, Bompas and Parr, and in collaboration with artist Louise Beer.
Dr Steve Aishman
Steve Aishman wrote a JavaScript program that makes drawings based on the interactions of various sounds. Whenever a sound reaches a certain level, it makes a ring that then diffractively interacts with other rings from other sounds creating an effect like ripples interacting on a surface. The rings in the drawings are based in a program called “Ripples” by Saiki, S. (2019).
Dr. Steve Aishman graduated from Princeton with an AB in Astrophysics in 1997, received his MFA from Tufts University, Boston in 2001 and his PhD in Fine Art at Royal College of Art in 2020. Most recently, Aishman served as the Dean of Academic services at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, GA. He has received numerous awards for his work and most recently had a solo show at the prestigious JCCAC in Hong Kong. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, the Boston Athenaeum, Boston Center for the Arts, and the Dorrego Art Center, Dorrego, Argentina.