Meeting Abstract
Noise is any factor that interferes with a receiver’s ability to detect or decode a signal; it is a ubiquitous feature of communication. In natural listening conditions, noise may fundamentally change the strength and shape of selection imposed by receivers in contexts such as mate choice. Two biologically relevant sources of noise in H. chrysoscelis are “ambient” noise caused by conspecifics and “signaler” noise caused by within-individual variation in signal production. In phonotaxis tests, we measured the effects of this noise on female preference functions for two critically important signal components: pulse rate, used in species recognition, and call rate, used in assessing male quality. Noise increased receiver error rates, with receivers making the most errors in high levels of noise and when alternative signals had similar trait values. As predicted, females made more errors with respect to male quality (call rate) than species identity (pulse rate). These results suggest 1) receiver error alters the shape of female preference functions and decreases the strength of sexual selection, and 2) past selection has acted to minimize species recognition errors.
