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Clutter and conspecifics: a comparison of their influence on echolocation and flight behaviour in Daubenton’s bat, Myotis daubentonii

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Abstract

We compared the influence of conspecifics and clutter on echolocation and flight speed in the bat Myotis daubentonii. In a large room, actual pairs of bats exhibited greater disparity in peak frequency (PF), minimum frequency (F MIN) and call period compared to virtual pairs of bats, each flying alone. Greater inter-individual disparity in PF and F MIN may reduce acoustic interference and/or increase signal self-recognition in the presence of conspecifics. Bats flying alone in a smaller flight room, to simulate a more cluttered habitat as compared to the large flight room, produced calls of shorter duration and call period, lower intensity, and flew at lower speeds. In cluttered space, shorter call duration should reduce masking, while shorter call period equals more updates to the bat’s auditory scene. Lower intensity likely reflects reduced range detection requirements, reduced speed the demands of flying in clutter. Our results show that some changes (e.g. PF separation) are associated with conspecifics, others with closed habitat (e.g. reduced call intensity). However, we demonstrate that call duration, period, and flight speed appear similarly influenced by conspecifics and clutter. We suggest that some changes reduce conspecific interference and/or improve self-recognition, while others demonstrate that bats experience each other like clutter.

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Abbreviations

BW:

Call bandwidth (F MAX −F MIN)

FM:

Frequency-modulated

F MAX :

Maximum call frequency (−10 dB from PF)

F MIN :

Minimum call frequency (−10 dB from PF)

JAR:

Jamming avoidance response

PF:

Peak frequency

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Acknowledgments

We thank L. Jakobsen and B. Charlton for Matlab scripts. We thank S. Brinkløv, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, A. Denzinger, B. Fenton, A. Surlykke for comments on the manuscript. L. Faber and T. Bojesen assisted with experiments. This study was funded by Danish Natural Sciences Research Council (FNU) grants to JMR and adhered to the legal requirements of Denmark and all institutional guidelines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada

    John M. Ratcliffe

  2. Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230, Odense M, Denmark

    Kayleigh Fawcett & John M. Ratcliffe

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  1. Kayleigh Fawcett
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  2. John M. Ratcliffe
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Correspondence to John M. Ratcliffe.

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Fawcett, K., Ratcliffe, J.M. Clutter and conspecifics: a comparison of their influence on echolocation and flight behaviour in Daubenton’s bat, Myotis daubentonii . J Comp Physiol A 201, 295–304 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-014-0977-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-014-0977-0

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