DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9krb
title: Acoustic parameters of Phyllodytes luteolus in conditions of low and high noise from vehicle traffic

description: Acoustic communication in animals can be affected by multiple biotic
 (intra and interspecific) and abiotic (e.g., wind and rain) natural
 noises. In addition, human beings produce additional novel sources of
 noise, which can reduce or inhibit the reception of acoustic signals by
 conspecifics, leading to behavioral changes. In this study, we
 investigated whether sound of conspecifics and road noise additively
 affect the acoustic parameters of the advertisement call of males of a
 Yellow Heart-tongued Frog (Phyllodytes luteolus). We hypothesized that
 males that vocalize in larger choruses (many males) and in areas close to
 highways (anthropic noise) will increase their temporal and spectral
 acoustic parameters, respectively, to avoid acoustic signal masking. We
 recorded the vocalizations of 38 males in environments close (N=18) to and
 distant (N=20) from highways in different social contexts (many or few
 individuals in the chorus). Contrary to our expectation, the results
 indicated that individuals exposed to road noise had lower dominant
 frequency calls than those from natural areas, and that the density of
 males in the chorus had no influence on the acoustic parameters.
 Furthermore, we found a positive relationship between body size and
 intensity, indicating that larger individuals can emit calls that can
 reach greater distances. The advertisement call of Phyllodytes luteolus
 has a high dominant frequency, with little overlap with the frequency of
 anthropic noises (roads), which may explain its presence and reproductive
 success of this species in bromeliads from urbanized areas.
description: Field activities were carried at five sampling sites in the
 municipality of Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil. All areas have bromeliads used as
 reproductive sites by <em>Phyllodytes luteolus</em>. Three
 sites with the presence of vehicle traffic noise were located next to the
 BA-001 highway (between 3 and 10 meters away from the highway), in the
 stretches between Olivença and Acuípe villages, in the municipality of
 Ilhéus. The sampling sites were defined as Natural (no traffic noise) or
 Highways (with traffic noise). For each recorded individual, we obtained
 the social situation in which the male was inserted, being: with chorus
 (four or more conspecific individuals in vocalization activity within a
 three-meter radius – CC) or without chorus (four or less conspecific
 individuals vocalizing within a radius of three meters – SC). Males of
 <em>Phyllodytes luteolus</em> in vocalization activity were
 found through visual and auditory searches between 19:00 and 24:00 hrs.
 After viewing the male, the advertisement calls were recorded using a
 Sennheiser ME66 directional microphone coupled to a Marantz PMD660 hand
 recorder at a distance of 0.5 meters from the vocalizing male. As
 <em>P. luteolus</em> males have a long silent interval between
 calls, each male was recorded for ten minutes, in order to obtain as many
 calls as possible. The acoustic parameters were extracted using Raven Pro
 1.6 software. Three to five calls were analyzed for each individual. The
 acoustic parameters extracted were: call duration (s), number of notes,
 number of pulses per call, pulse duration (s), rise time (s), interval
 between calls (s), repetition rate (calls/min.) and dominant frequency
 (Hz). The acoustic terminologies followed Köhler et al. (2017). The sound
 pressure level (SPL; intensity) was obtained for three to five
 advertisement calls from each individual using a Minipa MSL-1301 decibel
 meter (range: 30-130dB; 125ms, fast) positioned directly in front of and
 0.5 meters away from the male in vocalization activity. Shortly after the
 recordings were finished, the males were captured for measurement of the
 snout-vent length (SVL) with a Western caliper (accuracy of 0.1 mm). Air
 temperature and humidity were recorded using a thermo-hygrometer
 (TechnoLine WS 9440, 0ºC precision).
description: # Acoustic parameters of advertisement call Phyllodytes luteolus, and
 morphological and climatic values.
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9krb](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9krb) Give a brief summary of dataset contents, contextualized in experimental procedures and results. ## Description of the data and file structure This open data comprises body size values, climatic and environmental variables. This primary data shows the acoustic parameters of the announcement song of a species of bromeliad anuran. Information on the natural history of this species of anuran is still scarce. All the information needed to understand the variables and the values obtained is in the document and represented briefly here in this section. | Variables | Description | | | :-------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | - | | individual | Number of recorded individuals. Each line is an independent individual. | | | Name locals | Name of the places where the individuals were recorded. Each different name is considered a different population. | | | Environment | Environments in which populations were present. Highway - Populations close to the highway; Natural - Populations from more remote areas, without any anthropogenic noise. | | | Situation | Situation in which the recorded individual was inserted. CC: With choirs - &gt;4 individuals; SC: Without choirs - &lt;4 individuals. | | | Noise | Presence of noise after recording the individual | | | SVL | Body size of the individuals recorded. Snout-ventral length | | | Weight (g) | Weight of males in recorded vocalization activity | | | Temperature | Air temperature at the time the individual was recorded. | | | Humidity | Air humidity at the time the individual was recorded. | | | Next.ind | Closest individual in vocalization activity to the male being recorded. | | | | | | | Acoustic parameters | | | | freq.dom | Dominant frequency of the male acoustic signal. | | | Call duration | Duration of the male's calls being recorded. | | | rise.time | Highest point of amplitude of the male's calls on the sonogram. | | | Interval.between.call | Interval from one call to the next. | | | nnotes | Number of the notes in each call | | | N.pulse.call | Total number of pulses in a call. | | | Pulse.duration | Pulse duration in millisecond measurements at each call. | | | Intensity | Sound pressure level of the acoustic signals from each recorded male. | | | Emission.rate | Number of advertisement calls emitted by the males halfway through the recording (Five minutes). | | | N.advertisement | Total number of advertisement call in the ten-minute recording. | |