Frog vocalization is influenced by moon phases: Brazilian frogs tend to prefer low-albedo phases

Abstract

Abstract. Lunar phases remarkably influence the circadian cycle of living beings. Early amphibian studies date back to the 1960s, but only recently has more research been conducted in this field. Much still needs to be understood to establish the behavioral pattern of this group according to the synodic cycle. In the present study, we sought to determine (i) whether the vocalization activity was influenced by the lunar phases and (ii) whether the influence was species-specific or affects the community with equal intensity. We expected a great diversity of behaviors and adaptations. Rayleigh's test was used to verify whether the sample differs significantly from the null hypothesis; Rao's test was used to check sample size sufficiency; and the Kiviat diagram was used to evaluate the activity of the species in relation to the complete synodic cycle. We have observed 1691 individuals of 37 species over 882 d. The lunar cycle influenced 78 % of the species, with 32 % preferring the lower-albedo phases. The activity pattern of each species was established. These results suggest that the lunar phases influence the vocalization activity of most species. Therefore, there is a general pattern of activity related to the synodic cycles; however, the specificities still need to be better understood.

Worldwide Soundscapes: a synthesis of passive acoustic monitoring across realms

“…The lunar cycle may have a balanced coverage in terrestrial studies as its influence is established for seabirds (Mougeot and Bretagnolle 2000), but it could also have been randomly evenly sampled. Nonetheless, the cycle should be explicitly considered for more taxa, especially for nocturnal or crepuscular ones which exhibit behavioral plasticity depending on lunar illumination (Kronfeld-Schor et al 2013;Appel et al 2017;Lima et al 2021;Ferreira et al 2020;Schaaf, Boullhesen, and Akmentins 2023). Climate and land use change will impact soundscapes in unpredictable ways through changing species distributions and phenology, thereby justifying the need for better coverage across multiple time scales -including inter-annual ones -to monitor changes in the ecosystems (Desjonquères et al 2022).…”

Quantification of underwater calling and foraging activities in the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis

“…Moonlight affects time partitioning of activity in amphibians (Vignoli et al, 2014;Onorati and Vignoli, 2017;Bissattini, Buono and Vignoli, 2020). Several studies reported more reproduction events (Vignoli and Luiselli, 2013;Onorati and Vignoli, 2017), more intense calling activity (Lima et al, 2021), increased mobility (FitzGerald and Bider, 1974;Henrique and Grant, 2019), or higher general activity (Muller, Cade and Schwarzkopf, 2018) at lower moonlight intensities. However, the effect of moonlight on amphibian activity is conflicting, with an even number of studies where activity increased or decreased during full moon, suggesting that the response depend on the species (Grant, Halliday and Chadwick, 2013).…”