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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Amphib. Reptile Sci.
Sec. Conservation
Volume 2 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/famrs.2024.1457928
This article is part of the Research Topic From Landscape Modifications to Pathogen Infections: Are Threats to Amphibians the Same in All Biomes? View all 6 articles

Novel Sounds, Native Responses: Exploring the Acoustic Consequences of Eleutherodactylus johnstonei's Invasion in Urban Areas

Provisionally accepted
Natalia B. Melo Natalia B. Melo 1,2Camila Both Camila Both 3,4Cinthia Brasileiro Cinthia Brasileiro 5,6*
  • 1 State University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 2 Other, Campinas, Brazil
  • 3 Center for Coastal, Limnological and Marine Studies, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, Brazil
  • 4 Universidade Estadual do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  • 5 Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 6 Other, Diadema, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Biological invasions pose a significant threat to biodiversity, impacting ecological balance. Exotic species using acoustic communication can disrupt native species' communication by interfering with the acoustic niche. Eleutherodactylus johnstonei, an exotic anuran in São Paulo, has males whose vocalizations serve as a pronounced source of environmental noise, overlapping with native species. Acknowledging that noise can lead to acoustic masking, we investigated the effects of E. johnstonei's acoustic niche invasion on the calls of two native species: Scinax imbegue and Physalaemus cuvieri, emitting vocalizations with and without spectral overlap with the exotic species. We created playbacks with E. johnstonei's vocalization, the native Boana bischoffi (control), and white noise, altering stimuli order for six versions. Playbacks were conducted for S. imbegue and P. cuvieri males in the field, recording response calls and noting behavioral changes. E. johnstonei's vocalization didn't alter spectral and temporal parameters of native species' announcement calls. However, S. imbegue males ceased vocalizing or moved away from the noise source. Additionally, B. bischoffi's calls and white noise altered native species' call parameters. These findings highlight the potential influence of novel sounds on individuals' acoustic behavior. The impact of exotic species' calls varies across species and contexts. Further studies with species vocalizing at different frequencies and in diverse acoustic landscapes are crucial for understanding anuran patterns.

    Keywords: Acoustic niche, acoustic communication, Biological invasion, exotic species, environmental noise

    Received: 01 Jul 2024; Accepted: 14 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Melo, Both and Brasileiro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Cinthia Brasileiro, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.