Background noise as a selective pressure: stream-breeding anurans call at higher frequencies

Röhr, David Lucas; Paterno, Gustavo Brant; Camurugi, Felipe; Juncá, Flora Acuña; Garda, Adrian Antonio

doi:10.1007/s13127-015-0256-0

Cited by 19 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Our results show a negative correlation between SVL and PF in glassfrogs when considering the phylogeny. Similar relationships were also found in other anuran clades (Erdtmann & Amézquita, 2009;Gingras, Boeckle, et al, 2013;Goutte et al, 2018;Röhr, Paterno, Camurugi, Juncá, & Garda, 2016), birds (Gonzalez-Voyer et al, 2013;Podos, 2001;Ryan & Brenowitz, 1985;Seddon, 2005;Wallschläger, 1980) and mammals (Barclay & Brigham, 1991;Fitch, 1997;Pfefferle & Fischer, 2006). However, the variation explained by our PGLS analysis is relatively small (R 2 = 0.155) if compared to other anuran clades, where variance explained spanned a range of 38%-66% (Erdtmann & Amézquita, 2009;Gingras, Boeckle, et al, 2013;Röhr et al, 2016), which could indicate variation in the degree of constraint imposed by body size on the evolution of peak frequency across taxa.…”

Section: Correlated Evolution Of Peak Frequency and Body Sizesupporting

confidence: 81%

“…The limited body size variation in glassfrogs is striking when compared to other anuran groups in which the evolution of call parameters has been investigated (Erdtmann & Amézquita, 2009;Gingras, Boeckle, et al, 2013;Gingras, Mohandesan, et al, 2013;Goutte et al, 2016;Röhr et al, 2016). Male glassfrogs are small (male SVL interquartile range: 20.82-24.86 mm), with a single outlier-the giant Centrolene geckoideum (male SVL range: 70.20-80.70 mm; Guayasamin, Varela-Jaramillo, & Frenkel, 2018).…”

Section: Correlated Evolution Of Peak Frequency and Body Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A factor that could explain PF variation beyond size is background noise. Some studies have suggested that anurans inhabiting lotic environments tend to emit calls with higher frequencies as a result of acoustic adaptation to reduce interference with the noise produced by waterfalls and rapids (Boonman & Kurniati, 2011;Feng et al, 2006;Goutte et al, 2016Goutte et al, , 2018Narins et al, 2004;Röhr et al, 2016;Vargas-Salinas & Amézquita, 2014). Thus, the high-pitched calls of some relatively large species could be an adaptation to outcompete the masking interference of torrent noise.…”

Section: Correlated Evolution Of Peak Frequency and Body Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

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Neotropical frogs and mating songs: The evolution of advertisement calls in glassfrogs

Sulbarán

Simões

Gonzalez‐Voyer

et al. 2018

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Anurans emit advertisement calls with the purpose of attracting mates and repelling conspecific competitors. The evolution of call traits is expected to be associated with the evolution of anatomical and behavioural traits due to the physics of call emission and transmission. The evolution of vocalizations might imply trade‐offs with other energetically costly behaviours, such as parental care. Here, we investigated the association between body size, calling site, parental care and call properties (call duration, number of notes, peak frequency, frequency bandwidth and call structure) of the advertisement calls of glassfrogs (Centrolenidae)—a family of Neotropical, leaf‐dwelling anurans—using phylogenetic comparative methods. We also explored the tempo and mode of evolution of these traits and compared them with those of three morphological traits associated with body size, locomotion and feeding. We generated and compiled acoustic data for 72 glassfrog species (46% of total species richness), including representatives of all genera. We found that almost all acoustic traits have significant, but generally modest, phylogenetic signal. Peak frequency of calls is significantly associated with body size, whereas call structure is significantly associated with calling site and paternal care. Thus, the evolution of body size, calling site and paternal care could constrain call evolution. The estimated disparity of acoustic traits was larger than that of morphological traits and the peak in disparity of acoustic traits generally occurred later in the evolution of glassfrogs, indicating a historically recent outset of the acoustic divergence in this clade.

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Section: Correlated Evolution Of Peak Frequency and Body Sizesupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Correlated Evolution Of Peak Frequency and Body Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Correlated Evolution Of Peak Frequency and Body Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Neotropical frogs and mating songs: The evolution of advertisement calls in glassfrogs

Sulbarán

Simões

Gonzalez‐Voyer

et al. 2018

J of Evolutionary Biology

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“…Taking into account these two factors, Vargas‐Salinas & Amézquita () found no significant difference in call dominant frequency between stream‐ and non‐stream‐dwelling species, whereas Röhr et al . () found higher dominant frequencies in stream‐dwelling frogs. This discrepancy in results may be attributed to the broad categorization of habitats (‘stream’ vs. ‘other’), a limitation we tried to overcome in our study using precise values of ambient noise levels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

How the environment shapes animal signals: a test of the acoustic adaptation hypothesis in frogs

Goutte

Dubois

Howard

et al. 2017

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Long-distance acoustic signals are widely used in animal communication systems and, in many cases, are essential for reproduction. The acoustic adaptation hypothesis (AAH) implies that acoustic signals should be selected for further transmission and better content integrity under the acoustic constraints of the habitat in which they are produced. In this study, we test predictions derived from the AAH in frogs. Specifically, we focus on the difference between torrent frogs and frogs calling in less noisy habitats. Torrents produce sounds that can mask frog vocalizations and constitute a major acoustic constraint on call evolution. We combine data collected in the field, material from scientific collections and the literature for a total of 79 primarily Asian species, of the families Ranidae, Rhacophoridae, Dicroglossidae and Microhylidae. Using phylogenetic comparative methods and including morphological and environmental potential confounding factors, we investigate putatively adaptive call features in torrent frogs. We use broad habitat categories as well as fine-scale habitat measurements and test their correlation with six call characteristics. We find mixed support for the AAH. Spectral features of torrent frog calls are different from those of frogs calling in other habitats and are related to ambient noise levels, as predicted by the AAH. However, temporal call features do not seem to be shaped by the frogs' calling habitats. Our results underline both the complexity of call evolution and the need to consider multiple factors when investigating this issue.

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“…In an among-species comparison, Röhr et al (2016) have recently shown that stream-breeding frog species call at higher frequencies, a tendency also supported by the occurrence of ultrasound communication in torrent species (e.g., Feng et al 2006;Arch et al 2008). Although not studied at the intraspecific level, it can be expected that the low-frequency background noise produced by fast-flowing streams might exert a selective pressure on populations to increase the frequency of their calls (Boeckle et al 2009).…”

Section: Adaptations To Different Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 97%

The use of bioacoustics in anuran taxonomy: theory, terminology, methods and recommendations for best practice

Köhler

Jansen

Rodríguez³

et al. 2017

Zootaxa

457

410

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Vocalizations of anuran amphibians have received much attention in studies of behavioral ecology and physiology, but also provide informative characters for identifying and delimiting species. We here review the terminology and variation of frog calls from a perspective of integrative taxonomy, and provide hands-on protocols for recording, analyzing, comparing, interpreting and describing these sounds. Our focus is on advertisement calls, which serve as premating isolation mechanisms and, therefore, convey important taxonomic information. We provide recommendations for terminology of frog vocalizations, with call, note and pulse being the fundamental subunits to be used in descriptions and comparisons. However, due to the complexity and diversity of these signals, an unequivocal application of the terms call and note can be challenging. We therefore provide two coherent concepts that either follow a note-centered approach (defining uninterrupted units of sound as notes, and their entirety as call) or a call-centered approach (defining uninterrupted units as call whenever they are separated by long silent intervals) in terminology. Based on surveys of literature, we show that numerous call traits can be highly variable within and between individuals of one species. Despite idiosyncrasies of species and higher taxa, the duration of calls or notes, pulse rate within notes, and number of pulses per note appear to be more static within individuals and somewhat less affected by temperature. Therefore, these variables might often be preferable as taxonomic characters over call rate or note rate, which are heavily influenced by various factors. Dominant frequency is also comparatively static and only weakly affected by temperature, but depends strongly on body size. As with other taxonomic characters, strong call divergence is typically indicative of species-level differences, whereas call similarities of two populations are no evidence for them being conspecific. Taxonomic conclusions can especially be drawn when the general advertisement call structure of two candidate species is radically different and qualitative call differences are thus observed. On the other hand, quantitative differences in call traits might substantially vary within and among conspecific populations, and require careful evaluation and analysis. We provide guidelines for the taxonomic interpretation of advertisement call differences in sympatric and allopatric situations, and emphasize the need for an integrative use of multiple datasets (bio-acoustics, morphology, genetics), particularly for allopatric scenarios. We show that small-sized frogs often emit calls with frequency components in the ultrasound spectrum, although it is unlikely that these high frequencies are of biological relevance for the majority of them, and we illustrate that detection of upper harmonics depends also on recording distance because higher frequencies are attenuated more strongly. Bioacoustics remains a prime approach in integrative taxonomy of anurans if uncertainty due to possible intraspecific variation and technical artifacts is adequately considered and acknowledged.

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Background noise as a selective pressure: stream-breeding anurans call at higher frequencies

Cited by 19 publications

References 24 publications

Neotropical frogs and mating songs: The evolution of advertisement calls in glassfrogs

Neotropical frogs and mating songs: The evolution of advertisement calls in glassfrogs

How the environment shapes animal signals: a test of the acoustic adaptation hypothesis in frogs

The use of bioacoustics in anuran taxonomy: theory, terminology, methods and recommendations for best practice

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