Grenat Pablo, Ferrero María, Baraquet Mariana, Pollo Favio, Otero Manuel, Salinas Zulma, Salas Nancy, Martino Adolfo
Ecología, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físico-Químicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Ruta Nacional N° 36-km 601, X5804BYA, Río Cuarto, Argentina.
Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Biodiversidad y Ambiente (ICBIA), UNRC-CONICET, Ruta Nacional N° 36-km 601, X5804BYA, Río Cuarto, Argentina.
Curr Zool. 2023 Aug 25;70(4):548-556. doi: 10.1093/cz/zoad040. eCollection 2024 Aug.
The increasing expansion of urban areas leads to the emergence of new noisy environments that can affect animal communication. Calls play a crucial role in the mating displays of anurans, and the negative impact of anthropogenic noise-induced auditory masking has been reported in several species. We investigated the acoustic variation in 96 males (971 calls) of the treefrog across acoustically undisturbed sites and different noise conditions, associated with urban areas (URBAN) and roads (ROAD), in Central Argentina. We analyzed the effect of anthropogenic noise conditions on 6 temporal (call duration [CD], intercall interval, first and second note duration, internote interval, and call rate) and 3 spectral (dominant frequency of first and second note, frequency difference between them) call properties. The effects of temperature and size on acoustical variables were controlled. We observed differences in all call attributes among the noise conditions, except for intercall interval. Males exposed to URBAN and ROAD exhibited significant changes in CD, dominant frequency of the second note, and frequency difference between them. URBAN males had longest internote interval, while ROAD individuals displayed increased first and second note duration and call rates. Interestingly, ROAD males exhibited immediate changes in call rate in direct response to passing heavy vehicles. Our study emphasizes the impact of anthropogenic noise on the acoustic characteristics of calls. Understanding how animals adapt to noisy environments is crucial in mitigating the adverse effects of urbanization on their communication systems. Future investigations should explore whether the observed call adjustments are effective in avoiding or mitigating the negative consequences of anthropogenic noise on reproductive success.
城市区域的不断扩张导致了新的嘈杂环境的出现，这些环境会影响动物的交流。叫声在无尾两栖类动物的求偶展示中起着至关重要的作用，并且在几个物种中都报道了人为噪声引起的听觉掩蔽的负面影响。我们调查了阿根廷中部与城市区域（URBAN）和道路（ROAD）相关的声学未受干扰地点和不同噪声条件下96只雄性树蛙（971次叫声）的声学变化。我们分析了人为噪声条件对6个时间参数（叫声持续时间[CD]、叫声间隔、第一和第二音符持续时间、音符间隔以及叫声速率）和3个频谱参数（第一和第二音符的主导频率、它们之间的频率差）叫声特性的影响。控制了温度和体型对声学变量的影响。我们观察到除了叫声间隔外，在所有噪声条件下的叫声属性都存在差异。暴露于URBAN和ROAD环境中的雄性树蛙在CD、第二音符的主导频率以及它们之间的频率差方面表现出显著变化。URBAN环境中的雄性树蛙音符间隔最长，而ROAD环境中的个体第一和第二音符持续时间以及叫声速率增加。有趣的是，ROAD环境中的雄性树蛙对经过的重型车辆直接做出反应，叫声速率立即发生变化。我们的研究强调了人为噪声对叫声声学特征的影响。了解动物如何适应嘈杂环境对于减轻城市化对其通讯系统的不利影响至关重要。未来的研究应该探索观察到的叫声调整是否有效地避免或减轻了人为噪声对繁殖成功率的负面影响。
