Air quality and ecological community soundscapes across Borneo

Studying how wildfire smoke impacts wildlife behavior and soundscapes in Borneo’s unprotected lowland forests.

Borneo’s forests burn annually, producing toxic smoke that can cover a large region. The resulting air pollution, especially particulate matter, has major health consequences for humans, but little is known about how this haze affects wildlife behavior and sounds. We have collected soundscape recordings since 2018 in the Rungan landscape, one of the largest lowland forests in Borneo with no formal protection. This region experienced El Niño-driven wildfires in 2019 and 2023 that blanketed these forests in thick smoke. Our collaborative team is studying Rungan forest soundscapes – with a focus on a range of threatened primates, birds, herpetofauna, and insects – to understand the consequences of prolonged and repeated exposure to hazardous smoke for a range of taxonomic groups. 

Impact

This project seeks to improve our understanding about how air pollution affects the distribution, behavior and health of wildlife exposed to wildfire smoke and advance conservation efforts to prevent megafires in tropical peatlands.

Harrison, M. E., Deere, N. J., Imron, M. A., Nasir, D., Adul, Asti, H. A., Aragay Soler, J., Boyd, N. C., Cheyne, S. M., Collins, S. A. et al. (2024). Impacts of fire and prospects for recovery in a tropical peat forest ecosystem. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 121, e2307216121.

Erb, WM, EJ Barrow, AN Hofner, JL Lecorchick, T Mitra-Setia, ER Vogel. 2023. Wildfire smoke linked to vocal changes in wild Bornean orangutans. iScience. 26 (7): 107088.

Erb, W. M., Barrow, E. J., Hofner, A. N., Utami-Atmoko, S. S., and Vogel, E. R. (2018). Wildfire smoke impacts activity and energetics of wild Bornean orangutans. Sci Rep 8, 7606.