Acoustic interference and recognition space within a complex assemblage of dendrobatid frogs.

ABSTRACT: In species-rich assemblages of acoustically communicating animals, heterospecific sounds may constrain not only the evolution of signal traits but also the much less-studied signal-processing mechanisms that define the recognition space of a signal. To test the hypothesis that the recognition space is optimally designed, i.e., that it is narrower toward the species that represent the higher potential for acoustic interference, we studied an acoustic assemblage of 10 diurnally active frog species. We characterized their calls, estimated pairwise correlations in calling activity, and, to model the recognition spaces of five species, conducted playback experiments with 577 synthetic signals on 531 males. Acoustic co-occurrence was not related to multivariate distance in call parameters, sugge

SUBMITTER: Amezquita A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3193210 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature