Bats retune echolocation calls lower and longer during humid seasons to offset absorption

Evidence

The Snell-Rood work suggests that organisms under a variable environment are able to change the signal structure to optimize the communication. In particular, in bats has been recognized the capacity to change the duration and frequency according to wet and dry seasons. As illustrated in Fig. 4.13, during the wet season the frequency is lower and the duration is higher. Considering that the absorption is higher during the wet season of 0.58 dB/m and that bats use echolocation in a range of 20 m away, during the wet season the signal will be affected by an absorption of 24 dB. These mammals have the ability to change call structure also in relationship to a change in atmospheric pressure. — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 763

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Climate shapes signal propagation through humidity and temperature-dependent sound absorption — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 756; Climate change alters how far animal acoustic signals travel. — Bernie Krause and Almo Farina, Using Ecoacoustic Methods to Survey the…, 32; Air absorption of high frequencies makes distant voices sound duller — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1943 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Climate shapes signal propagation through humidity and temperature-dependent sound absorption #corroborates (0.85) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 756
• Animal long-distance calls evolve to match habitat acoustics #exemplifies (0.82) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 409
• Climate change alters how far animal acoustic signals travel. #expands (0.75) — Bernie Krause and Almo Farina, Using Ecoacoustic Methods to Survey the…, 32
• Air absorption of high frequencies makes distant voices sound duller #corroborates (0.72) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1943