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Severe constraints for sound communication in a frog from the South American temperate forest

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Abstract

The efficiency of acoustic communication depends on the power generated by the sound source, the quality of the environment across which signals propagate, the environmental noise and the sensitivity of the intended receivers. Eupsophus calcaratus, an anuran from the temperate austral forest, communicates by means of an advertisement call of weak intensity in a sound-attenuating environment. To estimate the range over which these frogs communicate effectively, we conducted measurements of sound level and degradation patterns of propagating advertisement calls in the field, and measurements of auditory thresholds to pure tones and to natural calls in laboratory conditions. The results show that E. calcaratus produces weak advertisement calls of about 72 dB sound pressure level (SPL) at 0.25 m from the caller. The signals are affected by attenuation and degradation patterns as they propagate in their native environment, reaching average values of 61 and 51 dB SPL at 1 and 2 m from the sound source, respectively. Midbrain multi-unit recordings show a relatively low auditory sensitivity, with thresholds of about 58 dB SPL for conspecific calls, which are likely to restrict communication to distances shorter than 2 m, a remarkably short range as compared to other anurans.

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Abbreviations

SPL:

Sound pressure level

RMS:

Root mean square

BTL:

Best threshold of the low-frequency region

BTH:

Best threshold of the high-frequency region

CFH:

Center frequency of the high-frequency region

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Acknowledgments

Roberto Díaz, Juan Panza and Rigoberto Solís helped in the field measurements. Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF) authorized our work in the Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park and Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG) extended permits for capture of specimens of E. calcaratus. The procedures used in this study comply with the bioethical regulations of the University of Chile (Protocol CBA# 061 FMUCH). Research supported by FONDECYT Grants 1960859 and 1110939. Two anonymous referees contributed comments that strengthened the final version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Fisiología y Biofísica, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 70005, Correo 7, Santiago, Chile

    Mario Penna & Alicia Plaza

  2. Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Felipe N. Moreno-Gómez

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  1. Mario Penna
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  2. Alicia Plaza
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  3. Felipe N. Moreno-Gómez
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Correspondence to Mario Penna.

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Penna, M., Plaza, A. & Moreno-Gómez, F.N. Severe constraints for sound communication in a frog from the South American temperate forest. J Comp Physiol A 199, 723–733 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-013-0831-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-013-0831-9

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