Multimodal signaling in the Small Torrent Frog (Micrixalus saxicola) in a complex acoustic environment.

Many animals use multimodal (both visual and acoustic) components in courtship signals. The acoustic communication of anuran amphibians can be masked by the presence of environmental background noise, and multimodal displays may enhance receiver detection in complex acoustic environments. In the present study, we measured sound pressure levels of concurrently calling males of the Small Torrent Frog (Micrixalus saxicola) and used acoustic playbacks and an inflatable balloon mimicking a vocal sac to investigate male responses to controlled unimodal (acoustic) and multimodal (acoustic and visual) dynamic stimuli in the frogs' natural habitat. Our results suggest that abiotic noise of the stream does not constrain signal detection, but males are faced with acoustic interference and masking from conspecific chorus noise. Multimodal stimuli elicited greater response from males and triggered significantly more visual signal responses than unimodal stimuli. We suggest that the vocal sac acts as a visual cue and improves detection and discrimination of acoustic signals by making them more salient to receivers amidst complex biotic background noise

Male Attractiveness Is Influenced by UV Wavelengths in a Newt Species but Not in Its Close Relative

Background: Functional communication in the UV range has been reported in Invertebrates and all major groups of Vertebrates but Amphibians. Although perception in this wavelength range has been shown in a few species, UV signalling has not been demonstrated in this group. One reason may be that in lentic freshwater habitats, litter decomposition generates dissolved organic carbon that absorbs UV radiation and thus hinders its use for visual signalling. We tested the effect of male UV characteristics on female sexual preference in two newt species that experience contrasting levels of UV water transmission when breeding. Methodology/Principal Findings: We analysed water spectral characteristics of a sample of breeding ponds in both species. We quantified male ventral coloration and measured male attractiveness under two lighting conditions (UV present, UV absent) using a no-choice female preference design. UV transmission was higher in Lissotriton vulgaris breeding sites. Male UV patterns also differed between experimental males of the two species. We observed a first common peak around 333 nm, higher in L. vulgaris, and a second peak around 397 nm, more frequent and higher in L. helveticus. Male attractiveness was significantly reduced in L. vulgaris when UV was not available but not in L. helveticus. Male attractiveness depended on the hue of the first UV peak in L. vulgaris. Conclusion/Significance: Our study is the first report of functional UV-based communication in Amphibians. Interestingly

Multimodal Communication in a Noisy Environment: A Case Study of the Bornean Rock Frog Staurois parvus

High background noise is an impediment to signal detection and perception. We report the use of multiple solutions to improve signal perception in the acoustic and visual modality by the Bornean rock frog, Staurois parvus. We discovered that vocal communication was not impaired by continuous abiotic background noise characterised by fast-flowing water. Males modified amplitude, pitch, repetition rate and duration of notes within their advertisement call. The difference in sound pressure between advertisement calls and background noise at the call dominant frequency of 5578 Hz was 8 dB, a difference sufficient for receiver detection. In addition, males used several visual signals to communicate with conspecifics with foot flagging and foot flashing being the most common and conspicuous visual displays, followed by arm waving, upright posture, crouching, and an open-mouth display. We used acoustic playback experiments to test the efficacy-based alerting signal hypothesis of multimodal communication. In support of the alerting hypothesis, we found that acoustic signals and foot flagging are functionally linked with advertisement calling preceding foot flagging. We conclude that S. parvus has solved the problem of continuous broadband low-frequency noise by both modifying its advertisement call in multiple ways and by using numerous visual signals. This is the first example of a frog using multiple acoustic and visual solutions to communicate in an environment characterised by continuous noise

Divergent receiver responses to components of multimodal signals in two foot-flagging frog species.

Multimodal communication of acoustic and visual signals serves a vital role in the mating system of anuran amphibians. To understand signal evolution and function in multimodal signal design it is critical to test receiver responses to unimodal signal components versus multimodal composite signals. We investigated two anuran species displaying a conspicuous foot-flagging behavior in addition to or in combination with advertisement calls while announcing their signaling sites to conspecifics. To investigate the conspicuousness of the foot-flagging signals, we measured and compared spectral reflectance of foot webbings of Micrixalus saxicola and Staurois parvus using a spectrophotometer. We performed behavioral field experiments using a model frog including an extendable leg combined with acoustic playbacks to test receiver responses to acoustic, visual and combined audio-visual stimuli. Our results indicated that the foot webbings of S. parvus achieved a 13 times higher contrast against their visual background than feet of M. saxicola. The main response to all experimental stimuli in S. parvus was foot flagging, whereas M. saxicola responded primarily with calls but never foot flagged. Together these across-species differences suggest that in S. parvus foot-flagging behavior is applied as a salient and frequently used communicative signal during agonistic behavior, whereas we propose it constitutes an evolutionary nascent state in ritualization of the current fighting behavior in M. saxicola

Can protected mountain areas serve as refuges for declining amphibians? Potential threats of climate change and amphibian chytridiomycosis in an alpine amphibian population. eco.mont (Journal on Protected Mountain Areas Research)|eco.mont Vol. 1 No. 2|

In June 2004 and June 2005, we checked 40 and 134 ponds respectively for alive and dead alpine newts, common toads, common frogs, and their clutches on the "Kirchfeld" plateau in the Northern Limestone Alps of Austria. We found several hundred dead common frogs and alpine newts in the two consecutive years and also observed an unusually high number of heterospecific matings between common toads and common frogs in 2004. In order to test whether the observed mortalities were caused by disease, we screened 98 individuals of the three species for chytridiomycosis, a highly infective fungal disease, in 2008. All samples proved to be negative. We therefore assume that the high losses for the common frog population (26 % in 2004 and 9 % in 2005) during the spring migration, as well as the breakdown of the temporal premating isolation between the common frog and common toad, were caused by temperature anomalies alone, i.e. sudden low temperatures after a warm spring period. The high number of dead alpine newts found in 2005 was negatively correlated to the oxygen saturation of the ponds, frequently covered by ice during the early breeding season. We discuss the possible effects of climate change on phenological timing, breeding isolation and chytridiomycosis in alpine amphibian populations

Schematic of the experimental set up and stimulus presentation.

<p>(A) The set up was positioned 50 cm from the focal individual. In the stream the lower box (1) serves as anchor for the upper set-up and a loudspeaker (2) connected to an portable player (3). A string (4) operated by the experimenter inserted through the upper box (5) stretched the artificial leg behind a model frog (6). A rubber band (7) automatically pulled back the leg and the attached foot (8). (B) After a 60 s baseline of no response the stimuli (S; acoustic, visual and multimodal) were presented for 30 s followed by a 90 s control period. Stimuli conditions were counterbalanced between positions S1, S2 and S3.</p

Backward step-wise model selections obtained from Generalized Lineal Mixed Models to explain the frequency of single response behaviors (call, tap, foot flag) and their sum as function of species (<i>Micrixalus saxicola</i>, <i>Staurois parvus</i>), artificial foot brightness (dark, white), stimuli (acoustic, visual, multimodal) and their interactions.

<p>AIC_c based model rankings are shown. Predictor variables of the model with the lowest Akaike weight (ω) support best the frequency of response behaviors. The final models are presented in bold.</p

Don't get the blues : conspicuous nuptial colouration of male moor frogs (Rana arvalis) supports visual mate recognition during scramble competition in large breeding aggregations

Conspicuous male colouration is expected to have evolved primarily through selection by female choice. In what way conspicuous colours could be advantageous to males scrambling for mates remains largely unknown. The moor frog (Rana arvalis) belongs to the so-called explosive breeders in which spawning period is short; intrasexual competition is strong, and males actively search and scramble for females. During breeding, male body colouration changes from a dull brown (similar to females) to a conspicuous blue, and we wanted to test if male blueness influences mating success or facilitates male mate recognition. To do so, we first measured the colour of mated and non-mated males using a spectrophotometer. In an experiment, we then analysed interactions of actual male moor frogs in natural spawning aggregations with a brown (resembling a female or a non-breeding male) and a blue model frog. Mated and non-mated males did not differ in colouration, suggesting that female choice based on colour traits was unlikely. In our behavioural experiment, male moor frogs spent significantly more time in contact and in amplexus with the brown model than with the blue model. Our results suggest that the nuptial colouration in moor frogs can act as a new type of visual signal in anurans evolved to promote instantaneous mate recognition allowing males to quickly move between rivals while scrambling for females.publishe

Mean brightness contrast of feet and back skin of <i>M. saxicola</i> and <i>S. parvus</i> against their natural visual background

<p>(<b>pebbles and rocks</b>) <b>and brightness contrast of the artificial model feet against the background of the experimental set-up</b> (<b>loudspeaker housing</b>)<b>.</b></p