I am an ecologist from Zimbabwe, but I've been based at the National University of Lesotho in Maseru for more than 13 years. Lesotho is a mountainous inland kingdom in southern Africa. Its high-altitude(高海拔的) wetlands support the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which delivers water to the Vaal River System in South Africa, generating both income and electricity for Lesotho.
I study the ecological balance that keeps those areas functioning properly: The wetlands trap water when it rains and release it gradually during dry periods. An important part ofthis is to map the plants, animals and general environmental conditions, and how they change over time.
One of our team projects monitors the soundscapes of those areas to identify the animals that live there. We put sensitive recording equipment in the field for weeks at a time. This is of great help because, although that site is just 180 kilometers from my university in the capital of Lesotho, it can take up to four hours to drive there.
The data we gather are huge, and although we do listen to the recordings, we mainly use software to help us analyze the data. We want to compare our recordings between seasons, between dawn and dusk (晨昏) and between day and night, to understand the rhythms of the ecosystem. We also compare our recordings from different wetland types. High-altitude areas are easier to be affected by climate change and, in my view, it is the greatest threat those protected wetlands face.
Listening to the recordings makes me happy because I enjoy hearing a variety of sounds, especially the singing of different birds. In a small country like Lesotho, there are so many knowledge gaps to fill-it's one of the benefits of being a researcher there. I hope that in the future some of you in this classroom will contribute to this as well.
