Data from: Acute artificial light diminishes central Texas Anuran calling behavior

Male anuran (frog and toad) advertisement calls associate with fitness and can respond to environmental cues such as rain and air temperature. Moonlight is thought to generally decrease call behaviors – perhaps as a response to increased perceived risk of predation – and this study sought to determine if artificial lighting produces a similar pattern. Using a handheld spotlight, light was experimentally introduced to natural anuran communities in ponds and streams. Custom call surveys where then used to measure anuran calls in paired unlit and lit conditions at six locations in central Texas. Among seven species heard, the number of frogs calling and call index declined in response to the acute light input. Local weather conditions could not explain differences between numbers of frogs calling between species, sites, survey order, or lighting order suggesting the main effect on number calling was light treatment. It appears acute artificial light alone can change calling behavior within several species in natural, mixed species assemblages.

雄性无尾两栖类（Anuran，即蛙与蟾蜍）的广告鸣唱（advertisement calls）与进化适合度（fitness）密切相关，且可响应降雨、空气温度等环境信号。普遍认为月光通常会抑制鸣唱行为——这可能是因为动物感知到的捕食风险升高——本研究旨在探明人工光照是否会产生类似的效应。研究人员借助手持聚光灯，对池塘与溪流中的天然无尾两栖类群落开展人工光照实验。随后采用定制化鸣唱调查方案，在德克萨斯州中部的6个采样点，对配对设置的未光照与光照条件下的无尾两栖类鸣唱情况进行量化测定。在记录到的7个物种中，鸣唱个体数量与鸣唱指数均随突发光照输入出现下降。当地气象条件无法解释不同物种、采样点、调查顺序以及光照顺序间的鸣唱个体数量差异，这表明对鸣唱个体数量产生主要影响的因素为光照处理。由此可见，仅单一的突发人工光照即可改变天然混合物种种群中多个物种的鸣唱行为。