Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Limited effects of traffic noise on behavioural responses to conspecific mating calls in the eastern sedge frog Litoria fallax

Limited effects of traffic noise on behavioural responses to conspecific mating calls in the... Anthropogenic noise is a pervasive environmental feature across both urban and non-urban habitats and presents a novel challenge especially for acoustically communicating species. While it is known that some species adjust acoustic signals to communicate more effectively in noisy habitats, we know very little about how the receivers of these signals might be impacted by anthropogenic noise. Here, we investigated female and male Litoria fallax frogs’ ability to distinguish between high- and low-quality acoustic signals during the presence of background traffic noise and without. We performed a controlled behavioural experiment whereby frogs were presented with simultaneously broadcasted attractive and unattractive calls from opposing directions, once with background traffic noise and once without. We found that females in particular chose the unattractive call significantly more often (and males significantly less often) when noise was being broadcast. This indicates that anthropogenic noise potentially affects receiver responses to acoustic signals, even when calls are not acoustically masked, with potential consequences for maladaptive mating behaviours and population outcomes. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png acta ethologica Springer Journals

Limited effects of traffic noise on behavioural responses to conspecific mating calls in the eastern sedge frog Litoria fallax

Download PDF
10 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/limited-effects-of-traffic-noise-on-behavioural-responses-to-TTH7K9lXbv
Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © ISPA, CRL 2021
ISSN
0873-9749
eISSN
1437-9546
DOI
10.1007/s10211-021-00378-7
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Anthropogenic noise is a pervasive environmental feature across both urban and non-urban habitats and presents a novel challenge especially for acoustically communicating species. While it is known that some species adjust acoustic signals to communicate more effectively in noisy habitats, we know very little about how the receivers of these signals might be impacted by anthropogenic noise. Here, we investigated female and male Litoria fallax frogs’ ability to distinguish between high- and low-quality acoustic signals during the presence of background traffic noise and without. We performed a controlled behavioural experiment whereby frogs were presented with simultaneously broadcasted attractive and unattractive calls from opposing directions, once with background traffic noise and once without. We found that females in particular chose the unattractive call significantly more often (and males significantly less often) when noise was being broadcast. This indicates that anthropogenic noise potentially affects receiver responses to acoustic signals, even when calls are not acoustically masked, with potential consequences for maladaptive mating behaviours and population outcomes.

Journal

acta ethologica – Springer Journals

Published: Oct 1, 2021

Keywords: Anthropogenic noise; Mate choice; Bioacoustics; Litoria; Urbanization

References

  • The costs of chronic noise exposure for terrestrial organisms
    Barber, JR; Crooks, KR; Fristrup, KM
  • Temporal updating during phonotaxis in male túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus)
    Baugh, A; Ryan, M
  • Treefrogs as animal models for research on auditory scene analysis and the cocktail party problem
    Bee, MA
  • Auditory masking of anuran advertisement calls by road traffic noise
    Bee, MA; Swanson, EM
  • Mate choice in a polluted world: consequences for individuals, populations and communities
    Candolin, U; Wong, BBM
  • Near-synchronous calling in the hip-pocket frog Assa darlingtoni
    Clulow, S; Mahony, M; Elliott, L; Humfeld, S; Gerhardt, HC
  • Mate attraction by male anurans in the presence of traffic noise
    Cunnington, GM; Fahrig, L
  • Elevated stress hormone diminishes the strength of female preferences for acoustic signals in the green treefrog
    Davis, AG; Leary, CJ
  • Vocal and territorial behavior in the Smith frog (Hypsiboas faber): relationships with plasma levels of corticosterone and testosterone
    de Assis, VR; Navas, CA; Mendonça, MT; Gomes, FR
  • Multiple mate choice criteria and the importance of age for male mating success in the microhylid frog, Cophixalus ornatus
    Felton, A; Alford, RA; Felton, AM; Schwarzkopf, L
  • A novel frog chorusing recognition method with acoustic indices and machine learning
    Gan, H; Zhang, J; Towsey, M; Truskinger, A; Stark, D; van Rensburg, BJ; Li, Y; Roe, P
  • Acoustic Communication in Insects and Anurans: Common Problems and Diverse Solutions
    Gerhardt, HC; Huber, F
  • The role of nocturnal vision in mate choice: females prefer conspicuous males in the European tree frog (Hyla arborea)
    Gomez, D; Richardson, C; Lengagne, T; Plenet, S; Joly, P; Léna, J-P; Théry, M
  • Low-frequency songs lose their potency in noisy urban conditions
    Halfwerk, W; Bot, S; Buikx, J; van der Velde, M; Komdeur, J; ten Cate, C; Slabbekoorn, H
  • Urban noise undermines female sexual preferences for low-frequency songs in domestic canaries
    Huet des Aunay, G., H. Slabbekoorn, L. Nagle, F. Passas, P. Nicolas, and T. I. Draganoiu.
  • Local not vocal: assortative female choice in divergent populations of red-eyed treefrogs, Agalychnis callidryas (Hylidae: Phyllomedusinae)
    Jacobs, LE; Vega, A; Dudgeon, S; Kaiser, K; Robertson, JM
  • Local preference encoded by complex signaling: mechanisms of mate preference in the red-eyed treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas)
    Kaiser, K; Boehlke, C; Navarro-Pérez, E; Vega, A; Dudgeon, S; Robertson, JM
  • Multimodal signaling improves mating success in the green tree frog (Hyla cinerea), but may not help small males
    Laird, KL; Clements, P; Hunter, KL; Taylor, RC
  • Traffic noise affects communication behaviour in a breeding anuran, Hyla arborea
    Lengagne, T
  • Male-male competition drives sexual selection and group spawning in the Omei treefrog, Rhacophorus omeimontis
    Luo, Z; Li, C; Wang, H; Shen, H; Zhao, M; Gu, Q; Liao, C; Gu, Z; Wu, H
  • Mate selection in Litoria chloris and Litoria xanthomera: Females prefer smaller males
    Morrison, C; Hero, J-M; Smith, WP
  • Urban sparrows respond to a sexually selected trait with increased aggression in noise
    Phillips, JN; Derryberry, EP
  • Coping with a changing soundscape: avoidance, adjustments and adaptations
    Potvin, DA
  • The energetics of acoustic signaling in anurans and insects
    Prestwich, KN
  • Fitness costs as well as benefits are important when considering responses to anthropogenic noise
    Read, J; Jones, G; Radford, AN
  • Multiple signals and male spacing affect female preference at cocktail parties in treefrogs
    Richardson, C; Lengagne, T
  • Auditory tuning and call frequency predict population-based mating preferences in the cricket frog, Acris crepitans
    Ryan, MJ; Perrill, SA; Wilczynski, W
  • Suffering in receivers: Negative effects of noise persist regardless of experience in female anurans
    Senzaki, M; Kadoya, T; Francis, CD; Ishiyama, N; Nakamura, F
  • Evaluating methods to quantify anthropogenic stressors on wild animals
    Tarlow, EM; Blumstein, DT
  • Traffic noise affects colouration but not calls in the European treefrog (Hyla arborea)
    Troïanowski, M; Condette, C; Mondy, N; Dumet, A; Lengagne, T
  • Multimodality: a way to cope with road traffic noise? The case of European treefrog (Hyla arborea)
    Troïanowski, M; Melot, G; Lengagne, T
  • Effects of traffic noise on tree frog stress levels, immunity, and color signaling
    Troïanowski, M; Mondy, N; Dumet, A; Arcanjo, C; Lengagne, T
  • Songs versus colours versus horns: what explains the diversity of sexually selected traits?
    Wiens, JJ; Tuschhoff, E
  • Female concave-eared torrent frogs prefer smaller males
    Zhang, F; Yuan, C; Feng, AS