Extended amplification of acoustic signals by amphibian burrows.

Animals relying on acoustic signals for communication must cope with the constraints imposed by the environment for sound propagation. A resource to improve signal broadcast is the use of structures that favor the emission or the reception of sounds. We conducted playback experiments to assess the effect of the burrows occupied by the frogs Eupsophus emiliopugini and E. calcaratus on the amplitude of outgoing vocalizations. In addition, we evaluated the influence of these cavities on the reception of externally generated sounds potentially interfering with conspecific communication, namely, the vocalizations emitted by four syntopic species of anurans (E. emiliopugini, E. calcaratus, Batrachyla antartandica, and Pleurodema thaul) and the nocturnal owls Strix rufipes and Glaucidium nanum. Eupsophus advertisement calls emitted from within the burrows experienced average amplitude gains of 3-6 dB at 100 cm from the burrow openings. Likewise, the incoming vocalizations of amphibians and birds were amplified on average above 6 dB inside the cavities. The amplification of internally broadcast Eupsophus vocalizations favors signal detection by nearby conspecifics. Reciprocally, the amplification of incoming conspecific and heterospecific signals facilitates the detection of neighboring males and the monitoring of the levels of potentially interfering biotic noise by resident frogs, respectively.