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Calling behavior of Elachistocleis matogrosso (Anura, Microhylidae) is associated with habitat temperature and rainfall

Cristian Pérez-Granados, Karl-L. Schuchmann, Paolo Ramoni-Perazzi & Marinez I. Marques (2020). Calling behavior of Elachistocleis matogrosso (Anura, Microhylidae) is associated with habitat temperature and rainfall. Bioacoustics, Volume 29 (6): 670 -669

 

Abstract: 

Anuran calling behaviour is determined by environmental, endogenous, and social factors. The effect of these factors usually differs among and within species. We used acoustic monitoring to evaluate the effects of environmental predictors on the daily occurrence and call production of Elachistocleis matogrosso (Microhylidae) in the northeastern Brazilian Pantanal. We monitored the calling behaviour of the species over a complete annual cycle at four acoustic monitoring stations. Daily occurrence was positively associated with high minimum air temperature at all sites, and was also related to days with high abundant rainfall at two sites. This result suggests that the minimum temperature acts as the main trigger initiating calling activity in this species. In contrast, call production was positively related to rainfall and accumulated rainfall over the previous three days, with no effect of air temperature. This observation could be related to a high abundance of calling males after some rainy periods, when more water bodies are available for reproduction. Our findings reveal the importance of performing studies at different spatial-temporal and calling scales because the effects of environmental predictors on anuran calling behaviour may differ among sites, and this factor is also important when analysing daily occurrence or call production.

Keywords: 

Anuran, automated recorder, Brazil, communication, Pantanal, signal recognition software

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