| Experimental evidence for real-time song frequency shift in response to urban noise in a passerine bird. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20610421 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Research has shown that bird songs are modified in different ways to deal with urban noise and promote signal transmission through noisy environments. Urban noise is composed of low frequencies, thus the observation that songs have a higher minimum frequency in noisy places suggests this is a way of avoiding noise masking. Most studies are correlative and there is as yet little experimental evidence that this is a short-term mechanism owing to individual plasticity. Here we experimentally test if house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) can modulate the minimum frequency of their songs in response to different noise levels. We exposed singing males to three continuous treatments: low-high-low noise levels. We found a significant increase in minimum frequency from low to high and a decrement from high to low treatments. We also found that this was mostly achieved by modifying the frequency of the same low-frequency syllable types used in the different treatments. When different low-frequency syllables were used, those sung during the noisy condition were longer than the ones sang during the quiet condition. We conclude that house finches modify their songs in several ways in response to urban noise, thus providing evidence of a short-term acoustic adaptation. |
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Authors:
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Eira Bermúdez-Cuamatzin; Alejandro A Ríos-Chelén; Diego Gil; Constantino Macías Garcia |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2010-07-07 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Biology letters Volume: 7 ISSN: 1744-957X ISO Abbreviation: Biol. Lett. Publication Date: 2011 Feb |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-01-13 Completed Date: 2011-05-10 Revised Date: 2012-04-13 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 101247722 Medline TA: Biol Lett Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 36-8 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 70-275, C.P. 04510 México, D.F., México. |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Finches / physiology* Male Noise* Urban Renewal Vocalization, Animal* |
| Comments/Corrections | |
Erratum In:
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Biol Lett. 2012 Apr 23;8(2):320 |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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