Rodríguez, Camilo; Amézquita, Adolfo; Ringler, Max; Pašukonis, Andrius; Hödl, Walter (2020). Calling amplitude flexibility and acoustic spacing in the territorial frog Allobates femoralis. Behavioral ecology and sociobiology, 74(6) Springer-Verlag 10.1007/s00265-020-02857-6
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Most male frogs produce calls to attract females and repel rivals. The transmission of these calls can be affected by many acoustic and environmental characteristics, which can influence the detection and decoding of the signal by the receiver. Calling-perch height has a strong influence on sound propagation and acoustic spacing with neighboring males, but how frogs optimize their calling behavior in this context is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated if and how frogs can adjust the calling energy in the context of acoustic spacing. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between calling-perch height, nearest-neighbor distance, and sound-pressure level in the brilliant-thighed poison frog Allobates femoralis. We found that frogs flexibly adjust the calling amplitude according to the calling-perch height without affecting the effectiveness signal propagation. Accompanying
signal propagation experiments demonstrated that calls produced with lower amplitude from higher perches propagate similar to louder calls from the ground. Our results suggest an adjustment to the hypothesis of a general positive effect of calling-perch height on signal effectiveness, where highly territorial frogs adjust their calling behavior to reduce energy expenditure and optimize acoustic communication with conspecifics.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) 08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) > Behavioural Ecology |
UniBE Contributor: |
Ringler, Max |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology 500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology) |
ISSN: |
0340-5443 |
Publisher: |
Springer-Verlag |
Funders: |
[209] FWF Der Wissenschaftsfonds |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Max Ringler |
Date Deposited: |
25 Jan 2022 14:30 |
Last Modified: |
27 Apr 2023 14:44 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1007/s00265-020-02857-6 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/164230 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/164230 |
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