Vocal transmission distance depends more on singing height than frequency
Evidence
The results presented by Morton (1975) have been confirmed by Marten and Marler (1977) in temperate habitats. Animals vocalizing at an height greater than 1 m can transmit at a longer distance when low frequencies are used. When the sound is emitted very close to the soil, where the attenuation of lower frequencies is higher, this allows us to state that the distance at which the sound may be transmitted depends more on the height at which a bird is singing than by the frequencies used. — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 424
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Reverberation favors low-frequency slow trills over fast high-frequency ones for long-range communication — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 443; Body size constrains the frequencies animals can vocalize — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 385; Sound audibility depends on both its level and its frequency — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 971 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- High-pitched soprano singing sacrifices intelligibility for audibility
#expands(0.80) - Formant tracking to harmonics boosts loudness, not intelligibility, in soprano singing
#expands(0.80) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 631 - Body size constrains the frequencies animals can vocalize
#contradicts(0.75) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 385 - Sound audibility depends on both its level and its frequency
#qualifies(0.72) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 971