Anuran call properties as reliable indicators of environmental suitability for reproduction

The onset of animal breeding activity is often accompanied by auditory signals, typically produced by males, that indicate reproductive status to potential mates and competitors. Here, using male anuran advertisement calls as a case study, we present the novel hypothesis that characteristics of ectotherm auditory signals that are modulated by temperature may also serve as bioclimatic indicators of the suitability of proximal abiotic conditions for reproduction. According to this hypothesis, thermal constraints on signal characteristics, such as call rate and duration, may facilitate tracking of environmental conditions by females. Through integrative analysis of empirical ecological studies, we demonstrate how variation in call properties may influence female reproductive physiology and behavior. We then outline how this proposed mechanism may enable environmental tracking and phenological shifts with climate change, provide guidelines for experimentally testing this hypothesis, and dis..., , , # Data from: Anuran call properties as reliable indicators of environmental suitability for reproduction

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3tx95x6qs](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3tx95x6qs)

We recorded frog calls in an experiment to examine the influence of water temperature on the properties of anuran advertisement calls.  In 2022 and repeated in 2023, wild-caught male Sierran chorus frogs (*Pseudacris sierra*) were housed in outdoor aquaria that were assigned one of three experimentally-controlled water temperature treatments—chilled, ambient, or heated.  In 10-minute experimental trials, we recorded the advertisement calls of each frog and the temperature of water in each aquarium. Frogs were rotated through aquaria so that each frog was recorded once in each water temperature. We measured the variables of interest for this experiment—call duration and call rate of advertisement calls—using RavenPro, then calculated the average duration of calls and weighted average call rate for e...,