In socially aggregating animals, competing biotic noise can mask vocal communication signals, interfering with signal detection, localization and recognition (Lohr et al. Anthropogenic noise can also be a form of acoustic crypsis and may increase the foraging success of predators by interfering with detection by prey (Chan et al. For instance, greater mouse-eared bats ( Myotis myotis) and western scrub jays ( Aphelocoma californica) have been shown to experience decreased predation pressure when predators avoid increased local noise produced by anthropogenic activity (Schaub et al. Nevertheless, noise can also be beneficial to some species, depending on the context and how receivers react to it (Stansbury et al. Most research on the impact of noise has focused on the detrimental effects and how animals deal with interference from noise. These challenges drive selection pressures, resulting in the evolution of specialized morphological, behavioral and physiological adaptations for coping with environment noise interference (Slabbekoorn and Peet 2003 Feng et al. However, sound communication is often degraded by various biotic and abiotic sources of environmental noise which interfere with the transmission of acoustic signals as well as the detection and processing of information contained in these signals (Wiley and Richards 1982 Rabin and Greene 2002 Brumm and Slabbekoorn 2005 Brumm and Naguib 2009 Love and Bee 2010). Most terrestrial species rely heavily on acoustic signals to attract mates, assess risks and defend resources (Bernal et al. These data therefore contribute to our understanding of how the perception of mate attractiveness in heterogeneous ecological environments can evolve.Īcoustic signals can be transmitted over long distances through varied habitats and can convey many kinds of information concerning species and individual identity, sexual receptivity and spatiotemporal information (Tyack 1998 Marler and Slabbekoorn 2004 Wells and Schwartz 2007). Stream noise associates closely with rocks, topographies and vegetation and may thus provide useful microhabitat information for signal receivers, thereby acting on sexual selection. These results show that stream noise can function as a cue that may be used by females for enhancing the attractiveness of calls. We found that females prefer calls with high amplitude stream noise added compared to those with low amplitude stream noise added for both high and low dominant frequency stimulus pairs however, stream noise itself was not attractive in the absence of calls. To determine whether stream noise can act as a cue regarding the microhabitat characteristics of senders, we performed phonotaxis experiments using stimulus pairs constructed with synthetic male calls (high or low dominant frequency) and stream noise with varied signal-to-noise ratios. Here we identified an exception to this generalization in a streamside species, the little torrent frog ( Amolops torrentis) which communicates in a stream noise environment. Many kinds of environmental noise can interfere with acoustic communication and efficient decision making in terrestrial species.
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