Abstract:
Anuran behavior and reproduction are dominated by vocalizations, rendering them vulnerable to the effects of signal masking. For anurans on display in zoos and aquaria, a major source of ambient noise is visitors, which pose a unique source of potential anthropogenic signal masking. Call characteristics (total call duration, and minimum and maximum call frequencies) of three populations of dendrobatids (Dendrobates leucomelas, Epipedobates tricolor, and Ranitomeya imitator) on public display were investigated at time periods of increasing visitor-related noise (closed, off-peak, and peak aquarium visiting hours) to determine if there were changes in call characteristics that correlated with changes in visitor noise levels. The data revealed that call length increased with more visitor noise for D. leucomelas and E. tricolor, with their longest calls during peak hours, and all three species had their shortest calls during closed hours. Both minimum and maximum call frequencies increased with more visitor noise for E. tricolor and R. imitator, with their highest frequencies during peak hours, and lowest frequencies during closed hours. This study found evidence that anurans on public display adjust their vocalizations in the presence of visitor noise. These findings support expanded monitoring of ambient noise for animals on public display to determine if noise poses significant effects that might influence well-being or reproduction.
摘要:
阿努兰的行为和繁殖是由发声主导的,使它们容易受到信号屏蔽的影响。对于在动物园和水族馆展出的无尾动物,环境噪音的主要来源是游客,构成了潜在的人为信号掩蔽的独特来源。呼叫特征(总呼叫持续时间,和最小和最大呼叫频率)三个种群的树丛(树丛,Epipedobates三色,和Ranitomeya模仿者)在公众展示时进行了调查,这些时间与访客相关的噪音(封闭,非高峰,和最大的水族馆访问时间),以确定呼叫特征是否与访客噪音水平的变化相关。数据显示,随着D.leugomelas和E.tricolor的访客噪音增加,通话长度增加,他们在高峰时段通话时间最长,这三个物种在封闭时间都有最短的呼叫。最小和最大呼叫频率都随着E.tricolor和R.imitator的更多访客噪音而增加,在高峰时段频率最高,和最低的频率在关闭时间。这项研究发现,有证据表明,在有访客噪音的情况下,公开展示的无尾动物会调整他们的发声。这些发现支持对公开展示的动物的环境噪声进行扩展监测,以确定噪声是否会造成可能影响健康或繁殖的重大影响。