Consistency in responses to conspecific advertisement calls with various signal-to-noise ratios in both sexes of the Anhui tree frog

Environmental noise has a significant negative impact on acoustic communication in most situations, as it influences the production, transmission, and reception of acoustic signals. However, how animals respond to conspecific sounds when there is interference from environmenta noise, and whether mal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current zoology 2023-12, Vol.69 (6), p.718-726
Main Authors: Wang, Zhiyue, Ma, Haohao, Chen, Cheng, Sun, Ruolei, Liu, Kai, Zhang, Baowei, Fang, Guangzhan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic properties
Advertising
Amphibians
Analysis
Animal vocalization
Behavior
Biological research
Biology, Experimental
Demographic aspects
Environmental aspects
Hyla
Noise
Noise pollution
Original
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Summary:Environmental noise has a significant negative impact on acoustic communication in most situations, as it influences the production, transmission, and reception of acoustic signals. However, how animals respond to conspecific sounds when there is interference from environmenta noise, and whether males and females display convergent behavioral responses in the face of noise masking remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of conspecific male advertisement calls with different signal-to-noise ratios on male-male competition and female choice in the Anhui tree frog Rhacophorus zhoukaiyae using playback and phonotaxis experiments, respectively. The results showed that (1) female Anhui tree frogs preferentially selected the conspecific calls with higher SNR compared to calls with lower SNR; (2) males preferentially responded vocally to the conspecific calls with higher SNR compared to calls with lower SNR; and (3) males' competitive strategies were flexible in the face of noise interference. These results suggest that preferences of both sexes converge in outcome, and that male competitive strategies may depend on predictable female preferences. This study will provide an important basis for further research on decision-making in animals.
ISSN:1674-5507
2396-9814
DOI:10.1093/cz/zoac088