One of the most promising conservation technologies emerging in recent years is bioacoustics – the use of acoustic recording technologies to study the behavior, distribution, and abundance of wildlife – and this episode of the Mongabay Newscast shares an array of favorite interviews and wildlife recordings that illustrate the breadth and potential of this powerful conservation technology.

Like other sorts of sensing technology—satellite imagery of forests, for instance—the field of bioacoustics has been a game changer when it comes to discovering new things about natural systems. As with the monitoring of forests from above, listening to ecosystems via bioacoustics reveals much about the animals living in such places, and threats they face like illegal hunting, fishing, or logging.

Combined with camera trapping, scientists and conservationists are now able to learn a lot about ecosystems without even being present.

Here’s the full audio of the very popular episode in May 2020 discussed on this episode, which featured recordings of forest elephants at a bai in Central African Republic. Listeners interested in soundscapes and bioacoustics can explore more examples here:

• Audio: The sounds of tropical katydids and how they can benefit conservation

• Audio: How listening to individual gibbons can benefit conservation

• Audio: What underwater sounds can tell us about Indian Ocean humpback dolphins

• Audio: The superb mimicry skills of an Australian songbird

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Keep in touch with Mike Gaworecki via Twitter here: @mikeg2001

Banner image: A sound file revealing rich data on biodiversity. Image by Rhett Butler for Mongabay.

See related:

Big bioacoustics boost: Cornell University program receives $24 million donation