Rohini Balakrishnan

Rohini Balakrishnan is a senior professor and ecologist at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She is an expert in the field of animal communication and bioacoustics. Her research, published in renowned peer-reviewed international journals, has also received attention in Indian newspapers.

Rohini obtained her Ph.D. at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India. She was the first Ph.D. student of Veronica Rodrigues, an Indian geneticist.

She is currently a Professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. Here she works on animal behaviour and acoustic communication.

Listen to Rohini talk about her work on crickets (Making sense of the cacophany) hereat the Young Investigators' Meeting 2015 (YIM 2015) in Gulmarg, India.

• Raghuram, H., Deb, R., Nandi, D. & Balakrishnan, R. (in press). Silent katydid females are at higher risk of bat predation than acoustically signalling katydid males Proceedings of the Royal Society B http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2319 (online first version)
• Schmidt, A. K. D. & Balakrishnan, R. (review, in press). Ecology of acoustic signalling and the problem of masking interference in insects. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-014-0955-6 (online first version)
• Raghuram, H., Jain, M. & Balakrishnan, R. (2014) Species and acoustic diversity of bats in a palaeotropical wet evergreen forest in Southern India. Current Science 107, 631–641.
• Deb, R. & Balakrishnan, R. (2014) The opportunity for sampling: The ecological context of female mate choice. Behavioral Ecology 25, 967–974.
• Balakrishnan, R., Bahuleyan, J., Nandi, D. & Jain, M. (2014) Modelling the effects of chorus species composition and caller density on acoustic masking interference in multispecies choruses of crickets and katydids. Ecological Informatics 21, 50–58.
• Agnihotri, S., Sundeep, P.V.D.S., Seelamantula, C.S. & Balakrishnan, R. (2014) Quantifying Vocal Mimicry in the Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo: A Comparison of Automated Methods and Human Assessment. PLoS ONE 9, e89540. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089540
• Jain, M., Diwakar, S., Bahuleyan, J., Deb, R. & Balakrishnan, R. (2014). A rain forest dusk chorus: Cacophony or sounds of silence? Evolutionary Ecology 28, 1-22.
• Nandi, D. & Balakrishnan, R. (2013). Call intensity is a repeatable and dominant acoustic feature determining male call attractiveness in a field cricket. Animal Behaviour 86, 1003–1012.
• Jaiswara, R., Nandi, D. and Balakrishnan, R. (2013). Examining the effectiveness of discriminant function analysis and cluster analysis in species identification of male field crickets based on their calling songs. PLoS ONE 8, e75930.
• Rajaraman, K., Mhatre, N., Jain, M., Postles, M., Balakrishnan, R. & Robert, D. (2013) Low-pass filters and differential tympanal tuning in a paleotropical bushcricket with an unusually low frequency call. Journal of Experimental Biology 216, 777–787.
• Deb, R., Bhattacharya, M. & Balakrishnan, R. (2012) Females of a tree cricket prefer larger males but not the lower frequency male calls that indicate large body size. Animal Behaviour 84, 137–149. DOI:10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.04.020
• Mhatre, N., Montealegre-Z, F., Balakrishnan, R. & Robert, D. (2012). Changing resonator geometry to boost sound power decouples size and song frequency in a small insect. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 109, E1444-E1452 (Author summary: 8362-8363). DOI:10.1073/pnas.1200192109
• Jain, M. & Balakrishnan, R. (2012). Does acoustic adaptation drive vertical stratification? A test in a tropical cricket assemblage. Behavioral Ecology 23, 343–354.
• Jaiswara, R., Balakrishnan, R., Robillard, T., Rao, K., Cruaud, C. & Desutter-Grandcolas, L. (2012). Testing concordance in species boundaries using acoustic, molecular and morphological data in the field cricket genus Itaropsis (Orthoptera:Grylloidea, Gryllidae: Gryllinae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 164, 285–303.
• Mhatre, N., Bhattacharya, M., Robert, D. & Balakrishnan, R. (2011). Matching sender and receiver: Poikilothermy and frequency tuning in a tree cricket. Journal of Experimental Biology 214: 2569–2578.
• Jain, M & Balakrishnan, R. (2011). Microhabitat selection in an assemblage of crickets (Orthoptera: Ensifera) of a tropical evergreen forest in Southern India. Insect Conservation and Diversity 4: 152–158.
• Jain, M., Kuriakose, G. & Balakrishnan, R. (2010). Evaluation of methods to estimate foliage density in the understorey of a tropical evergreen forest. Current Science 98: 508–515.
• Nair, S., Balakrishnan, R., Seelamantula, C. S. & Sukumar, R. (2009). Vocalisations of wild Asian elephants: structural classification and social context. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 126: 2768–2778.
• Mhatre, N., Montealegre-Z., F., Balakrishnan, R. and Robert, D. (2009). Mechanical response of the tympanal membranes of the tree cricket Oecanthus henryi. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 195: 453–462.
• Nityananda, V. & Balakrishnan, R. (2009). Modeling the role of competition and cooperation in the evolution of katydid acoustic synchrony. Behavioral Ecology 20: 484 – 489.
• Mhatre N & Balakrishnan R. (2008) Predicting acoustic orientation in complex real-world environments. Journal of Experimental Biology 211:2779-2785.
• Nityananda, V. & Balakrishnan, R. (2008) Leaders and followers in katydid choruses in the field: call intensity, spacing and consistency. Animal Behaviour 76, 723–735.
• Mhatre, N. & Balakrishnan, R. (2007). Phonotactic walking paths of field crickets in closed loop conditions and their simulation using a stochastic model. Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 3661–3676.
• Nityananda, V., Stradner, J., Balakrishnan, R. & Römer, H. (2007). Selective attention in a synchronising bushcricket: physiology, behaviour and ecology. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 193, 983–991.
• Diwakar, S., Jain, M. & Balakrishnan, R. (2007). Psychoacoustic sampling as a reliable, non – invasive method to monitor orthopteran species diversity in tropical forests. Biodiversity and Conservation 16, 4081–4093.
• Diwakar, S. & Balakrishnan, R. (2007). The assemblage of acoustically communicating crickets of a tropical evergreen forest in Southern India: call diversity and diel calling patterns. Bioacoustics 16, 113–135.
• Diwakar, S. & Balakrishnan, R. (2007).Vertical stratification in an acoustically communicating ensiferan assemblage of a tropical evergreen forest in southern India. Journal of Tropical Ecology 23, 479–486.
• Nityananda, V. & Balakrishnan, R. (2007). Synchrony during acoustic interactions in the bushcricket Mecopoda 'Chirper' (Tettigoniidae:Orthoptera) is generated by a combination of chirp-by-chirp resetting and change in intrinsic chirp rate. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 193, 51–65.
• Nityananda, V. & Balakrishnan, R. (2006).A diversity of songs among morphologically indistinguishable katydids of the Genus Mecopoda (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Southern India. Bioacoustics 15, 223–250.
• Mhatre, N. & Balakrishnan, R. (2006). Male spacing behaviour and acoustic interactions in a field cricket: implications for female mate choice. Animal Behaviour 72, 1045–1058.
• Balakrishnan, R. (2005). Species concepts, species boundaries and species identification: A view from the tropics. Systematic Biology 54: 689–693.
• Metrani, S. & Balakrishnan, R. (2005). The utility of song and morphological characters in delineating species boundaries among sympatric tree crickets of the genus Oecanthus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae: Oecanthinae): a numerical taxonomic approach. Journal of Orthoptera Research 14: 5-20.