The acoustic activity of Physalaemus cuvieri (Anura Leptodactylidae) is strongly influenced by climatic conditions, but not by latitude or landscape metrics

Abstract

Understanding the factors that influence acoustic activity of anuran species is essential for proper species management and herein, we investigated the influence of landscape metrics (% native vegetation cover and number of patches), latitude and climatic variables (temperature and relative humidity) on the acoustic activity of Physalaemus cuvieri. We used Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) to record the acoustic activity in males of the target species in 29 water bodies distributed throughout the Cerrado, the Brazilian savanna. We investigated whether the rate of call emission by P. cuvieri males is influenced by predictor variables based on generalized linear mixed models. The call rate of P. cuvieri males was influenced only by air temperature variation throughout night. We found a peak of acoustic activity in the warmer hours in the beginning of the night followed by a decrease as the air temperature declines throughout the dawn. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find any significant influence of latitude, relative humidity or landscape metrics (number of fragments or percentage of native vegetation cover) on the acoustic activity of P. cuvieri. The impacts of landscape metrics on the acoustic activity of P. cuvieri are not significant, because it is a species with more generalist ecological requirements, which to allow the individuals to move across the landscape to be successful in colonizing water bodies situated in altered environments. Previous studies have suggested that changes in temperature may affect species phenology, since individuals alter their vocal activity, or their time spent in chorus in response to climate change. In this sense, our results are important because they allow us to predict the impact of future climate change on the acoustic activity of the target species, as well as demographic implications.