Michelle M. Struett
Doutorado | 3° ano
Facing the enemy: are the agonistic behaviors affected by road noise in Brazilian torrent frogs?
Facing the enemy: are the agonistic behaviors affected by road noise in Brazilian torrent frogs?
Noise pollution is known to negatively affect social interactions in some animal species, with consequences for population dynamics. Many frog species use multimodal signals in social interactions, including agonism between males, when they compete for resources, including breeding territories. We experimentally test in the field effects of road noise on auditory and visual signals in Hylodes heyeri during agonistic behaviors. We exposed resident males to a robotic frog that emitted visual and acoustic signals with and without road noises playback. Our results demonstrate that H. heyeri modify only acoustic signals in this context with noise added. Males increases their call rates and dominant frequency, also decreases interval calls when exposed to road noise. These results illustrate that frogs can respond with short term acoustic strategy to a different noise in the agonistic context so that their signal quality remains strong.
Michelle_Struett_D_3_POSTER_.pdf