Effect of traffic noise on Scinax nasicus advertisement call (Amphibia, Anura)

LEON, EVELINA; PELTZER, PAOLA M.; LORENZON, RODRIGO; LAJMANOVICH, RAFAEL C.; BELTZER, ADOLFO H.

IHERINGIA. SéRIE ZOOLOGIA

FUNDACAO ZOOBOTANICA RIO GRANDE SUL

Año: 2019 vol. 109 p. 1 - 8

0073-4721

Increased anthropogenic-made sounds such as traffic noises contribute to acoustic pollution, which produces deleterious effect on songvertebrates.We compared the advertisement call of Scinax nasicus (Cope, 1862) males in natural (as a reference or control, Site A) and Sites affectedby traffic noises (Site B). Call structure was recorded and it was amplified in sonograms (software Raven Pro 1.5). Seven variables were measured onits advertisement call: duration (s), number of notes, number of pulses per note, maximum and minimum frequency (kHz), dominant frequency (kHz)and amplitude (dB). In addition, at each Site the background noise (the fundamental frequency, F0 and amplitude, dB) was measured. The amplitude ofbackground noise reached higher values (68.02 dB) in Site B, while in Site A was lower (34.81 dB). Thus, the F0 in Site A was 6.28 kHz and in Site Bit was 4.15 kHz. Frog call in noisy environment (Site B) were characterized by lesser duration (s) and number of pulses per note, higher maximum anddominant frequencies (kHz), lower minimum frequencies, and amplitude (dB) when compared with control environment (Site A). Our study highlights,that S. nasicus males shift their vocal structure in traffic noisy ponds, mainly by vocal ?adjust? of their frequencies and amplitude to counteract maskingeffect. Finally, acoustic monitoring of anurans