Bioacoustic article in Behaviour 148, 2
Kaiser, K, DG Scofield, M Alloush, RM Jones, S Marczak, K Martineau & MA
Oliva (2011) When sounds collide: the effect of anthropogenic noise on a
breeding assemblage of frogs in Belize, Central America. Behaviour 14:
215-232.
Abstract
Many organisms depend on acoustic communication for myriad functions,
and have evolved behaviours to minimize effects of naturally occurring
acoustic interference. However, as habitats are subject to increased
alteration, anthropogenic noise becomes unavoidable, and how animals
overcome such interference is not well understood. In most ecosystems,
only a subset of frog species is associated with disturbed habitats; the
ability of these species to overcome exogenous noise suggests that
habitat associations may be related to species' response to noise. We
tested the hypothesis that frogs associated with largely undisturbed
forest habitat would be less likely to increase call output in response
to exogenous noise than would those associated with disturbed or open
habitat. While this relationship was not significant, we found a slight
trend supporting the hypothesis. We then asked whether anthropogenic
noise affects chorus tenure at individual- or at chorus-levels. Male
frogs exposed to anthropogenic noise decreased both the number of days
present at the chorus and the nightly chorus duration relative to
controls. Because females generally join choruses late at night to
breed, the effects of noise shown here are likely to substantially
decrease frog reproductive success; thus, the acoustic environment may
play an important role in shaping population dynamics and in amphibian
declines.
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