Cover Picture and Issue Information

Abstract

Functional EcologyVolume 35, Issue 12 p. 2615-2617 COVER PICTURE AND ISSUE INFORMATIONFree Access Cover Picture and Issue Information First published: 06 December 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13599AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract The acoustic environment can structure animal assemblages by providing or obscuring salient information. In Sedlock et al. 2021 (Func. Ecol. 2021, 35:12; https://doi.org/doi:10.1111/1365-2435.13933), the authors explore the response of wild aerial-hawking bats to a natural source of ultrasonic noise: meadow katydids (Conocephalus longipennis) that form dense aggregations of asynchronously calling males in rice paddies across Southeast Asia. They mimicked this expanse of broadband ultrasound with 100 speakers installed in a rice paddy at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. This phantom chorus revealed that, while most bats were undeterred by the chorus playback, low-flying bats whose echolocation calls overlapped with the katydid chorus were pushed up away from the noise source. The katydid chorus degraded foraging habitat for bats, but possibly carved out predator-reduced space for their insect prey. This study advances our understanding of how the acoustic environment can filter animal communities by bringing it into the ultrasonic realm, and its potential role in modulating trophic interactions in an agricultural landscape. Volume35, Issue12December 2021Pages 2615-2617 RelatedInformation