Acoustic plasticity in Boana goiana (Lutz, 1968) (Anura, Hylidae): how males respond to successive interactions with conspecific competitors

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the breeding season, hundreds of anurans agglomerate at spawning sites, where a diversity of social contexts arise. In this scenario, anurans may alter their vocal repertoire according to the immediate social context, to overcome intraspecific competition. To evaluate the acoustic response of Boana goiana to successive interactions with a conspecific competitor, the present study was based on comparing the repetition rates of advertisement and aggressive calls of B. goiana focal males exposure to repeated artificial advertisement calls in 10 playback sessions. We observed that B. goiana males altered their acoustic behaviour in response to the simulated arrival of a new competitor. Males emitted less advertisement calls and more aggressive calls with the arrival of the competitors. Temperature and body condition were not important predictors of continuity of males in the experiment or the call repetition rates in the pre-playback session. However, the body condition influenced the total delta advertisement calls (differences in the call rate emission between end and the beginning of the experiment), indicating that higher values of body conditions allow males to show smaller reductions in the emission of advertisement calls over time in the presence of a competitor.