Editing Bioacoustics (section)

==History==
For a long time humans have employed animal sounds to recognise and find them. Bioacoustics as a [[scientific discipline]] was established by the [[Slovenes|Slovene]] biologist [[Ivan Regen]] who began systematically to study [[insect]] sounds. In 1925 he used a special [[stridulation|stridulatory]] device to play in a duet with an insect. Later, he put a male [[Cricket (insect)|cricket]] behind a microphone and female crickets in front of a loudspeaker. The females were not moving towards the male but towards the loudspeaker.<ref>Kočar T. (2004). ''[http://www.gea-on.net/clanek.asp?ID=522 Kot listja in kobilic]'' (''As many as leaves and grasshoppers''). [[GEA (magazine)|GEA]], October 2004. [[Mladinska knjiga]], [[Ljubljana]] {{in lang|sl}}</ref> Regen's most important contribution to the field apart from realization that insects also detect airborne sounds was the discovery of [[tympanal organ]]'s function.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/555378/sound-reception/64794/Evidence-of-hearing-and-communication-in-insects |title=Sound reception: Evidence of hearing and communication in insects |first=Ernest |last=Glen Wever |encyclopedia=Britannica online |year=2008 |access-date=2008-09-25}}</ref>

Relatively crude electro-mechanical devices available at the time (such as [[phonograph]]s) allowed only for crude appraisal of signal properties. More accurate measurements were made possible in the second half of the 20th century by advances in electronics and utilization of devices such as [[oscilloscope]]s and digital recorders.

The most recent advances in bioacoustics concern the relationships among the animals and their acoustic environment and the impact of anthropogenic [[Noise (environmental)|noise]]. Bioacoustic techniques have recently been proposed as a non-destructive method for estimating [[biodiversity]] of an area.<ref>{{cite journal
| author      = Sueur J. |author2=Pavoine S. |author3=Hamerlynck O. |author4=Duvail S.
| editor1-last      = Reby
| date        = December 30, 2008
| editor1-first      = David
| title       = Rapid Acoustic Survey for Biodiversity Appraisal
| journal     = [[PLoS ONE]]
| volume      = 3
| issue       = 12
| pages       = e4065
| doi         = 10.1371/journal.pone.0004065
| pmid      = 19115006
| pmc      = 2605254
|bibcode = 2008PLoSO...3.4065S |doi-access=free }}</ref>