Meeting Abstract
Many anuran amphibians (frogs and toads) breed in or near a body of water, where males produce acoustic signals in aggregations called choruses. The cues that influence when females travel from the terrestrial habitat and arrive at the breeding location are, however, still not fully understood. Females select mates based on the acoustic properties of male calls, so female attendance at a chorus is generally thought to be either a direct response to chorusing males or to favorable environmental conditions which correlate with male chorusing. This study aimed to better understand the cues determining female arrival in a population of the gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor). To accomplish this, we conducted nighttime censuses that estimated the number of breeding females over the course of the 2013-2014 breeding seasons (April-July). We then correlated female attendance with environmental variables (precipitation, wind speed, barometric pressure, temperature, relative humidity, ambient light) measured at a nearby AmeriFlux tower and the average intensity of the male chorus (dB SPL). We present multivariate statistical analyses designed to determine whether female arrival is more highly correlated with male calling behavior than with particular environmental variables. We predict that rainfall and humidity will be important determinants of breeding behavior for both sexes, as well as test hypotheses about the importance of variables that increase the risk of female movement (ex: ambient light levels). The results of this study are important for understanding how the interaction between climate and chorus activity affect reproductive behaviors in H. versicolor, and allow for comparisons with other temperate species.
