Road Impacts on Abundance, Call Traits, and Body Size of Rainforest Frogs in Northeast Australia

Hoskin, Conrad J.; Goosem, Miriam

doi:10.5751/es-03272-150315

Cited by 55 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…For example, urban great tits were found to sing at higher frequencies than rural populations (Slabbekoorn & Peet, ). In anurans, positive (Hoskin & Goosem, ) and negative (Hoskin et al ., ) correlations were found, but body size and phylogenetic relationships among species, two important factors, were not considered in these studies. 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 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…Given a choice, females prefer lower frequency calls, indicating larger and/or more experienced males (Wollerman 1998). Although found no relationship between male size and vocalization in areas affected by traffic noise, Hoskin & Goosem (2010) demonstrated that smaller males are concentrated closer to roads (with the loudest noise) and have higher frequency calls. Thus, these individuals may become less attractive to females (Wollerman 1998).…”

Section: Traffic Volumementioning

confidence: 92%

“…A few studies have been conducted to evaluate traffic volume × traffic noise for some species of tropical birds and amphibians (Kaiser & Hammers 2009, Parris & Schneider 2009, Hoskin & Goosem 2010, Kaiser et al 2011. Studies in the area of individual fitness have shown that although reptiles and terrestrial mammals do not use acoustic communication strategies such as those found in amphibians and birds (Zug et al 2001, Pough et al 2008, they may perceive noisy areas as less desirable, affecting the individual without necessarily affecting the population in the short and medium term.…”

Section: Knowledge Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Review of the Factors Underlying the Mechanisms and Effects of Roads on Vertebrates

Rosa¹,

Bager²

2013

Oecol. Austr.

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Road ecology is an emerging discipline that attempts to understand the patterns and processes related with road-ecosystem interactions to establish effective mitigation measures of the negative effects of roads on wildlife. Although many advances have been made over the past 10 years, many questions are still unanswered or the information is incomplete. We discussed the factors (characteristics of roads) involved in mechanisms and effects of roads on vertebrates and the knowledge gaps. The factors evaluated were road density, road maintenance involving chemicals, presence of vehicles and traffic volume. We identified five mechanisms resulting from these factors: car avoidance, noise avoidance, road surface avoidance, road attraction and wildlife-vehicle-collisions (WVC). Density of roads causes road surface avoidance, road attraction and WVC; maintenance of roads with chemicals causes noise avoidance, road attraction and WVC; vehicle presence causes noise avoidance, car avoidance and WVC; and traffic volume causes noise avoidance and WVC. WVC was the only mechanism linked to all road factors and it occurs in combination with another mechanism (road attraction); therefore, we believe this to be the mechanism that affects most organisms. We identified many knowledge gaps related primarily to identifying the mechanisms triggered by various factors, especially for tropical organisms. We believe that studies involving tropical species could provide new results due to their greater ecological demands compared with temperate species.Palavras-chave: Atropelamentos; evitação de estradas; evitação de ruídos; evitação de carros; atração por rodovias. RESUMEN REVISIÓN DE LOS FACTORES QUE SUBYACEN LOS MECANISMOS Y EFECTOS DE CARRETERAS SOBRE LOS VERTEBRADOS.La ecología de carreteras es una disciplina emergente que pretende entender los patrones y procesos relacionados con las interacciones entre carreteras y ecosistemas, para establecer medidas efectivas de mitigación de los efectos negativos de las carreteras sobre la vida silvestre. Aunque se ha avanzado bastante en los últimos 10 años, varias preguntas siguen sin responder o la información está incompleta. Nuestro objetivo fue discutir los factores (características de las carreteras) involucrados en los mecanismos y efectos de las carreteras sobre los vertebrados y las lagunas en el conocimiento. Los factores evaluados fueron la densidad de la malla vial, el mantenimiento con sustancias químicas, la presencia de vehículos y el volumen del tráfico. Identificamos cinco mecanismos que derivan de estos factores: evitación de los carros, evitación del ruido, evitación de la superficie de la carretera, atracción por la carretera y colisiones entre vehículos y animales silvestres (WVC). La densidad de las vías causa la evitación de la superficie de la carretera, la atracción por la carretera y colisiones con vehículos; el mantenimiento de carreteras con productos químicos causa la evitación del ruido, la atracción por la carretera y colisiones con vehículos; la presencia de vehí...

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“…In this context, the impact of anthropogenic noise on wildlife has drawn an increasing interest among bioacousticians in the past years, notably with studies on city noise pollution effects on birds [22–27], road noise effects on frogs [28,29] and marine noise effects on fishes and marine mammals [30–32]. Despite these studies, the effect of natural noise on the ecology and evolution of animal species is rarely investigated [33,34], and ambient noise level remains an underused variable in ecological studies [35–39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Ambient Sound Level to Characterise Anuran Habitat

2013

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Habitat characterisation is a pivotal step of any animal ecology study. The choice of variables used to describe habitats is crucial and need to be relevant to the ecology and behaviour of the species, in order to reflect biologically meaningful distribution patterns. In many species, acoustic communication is critical to individuals’ interactions, and it is expected that ambient acoustic conditions impact their local distribution. Yet, classic animal ecology rarely integrates an acoustic dimension in habitat descriptions. Here we show that ambient sound pressure level (SPL) is a strong predictor of calling site selection in acoustically active frog species. In comparison to six other habitat-related variables (i.e. air and water temperature, depth, width and slope of the stream, substrate), SPL had the most important explanatory power in microhabitat selection for the 34 sampled species. Ambient noise was particularly useful in differentiating two stream-associated guilds: torrents and calmer streams dwelling species. Guild definitions were strongly supported by SPL, whereas slope, which is commonly used in stream-associated habitat, had a weak explanatory power. Moreover, slope measures are non-standardized across studies and are difficult to assess at small scale. We argue that including an acoustic descriptor will improve habitat-species analyses for many acoustically active taxa. SPL integrates habitat topology and temporal information (such as weather and hour of the day, for example) and is a simple and precise measure. We suggest that habitat description in animal ecology should include an acoustic measure such as noise level because it may explain previously misunderstood distribution patterns.

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Road Impacts on Abundance, Call Traits, and Body Size of Rainforest Frogs in Northeast Australia

Cited by 55 publications

References 34 publications

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

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

Review of the Factors Underlying the Mechanisms and Effects of Roads on Vertebrates

The Importance of Ambient Sound Level to Characterise Anuran Habitat

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