Dear colleagues,
on behalf of all authors, I like to announce the publication of our
recent work on the lack of evidence for spectral jamming avoidance in
pipistrelle bats:
Simone Götze, Jens C. Koblitz, Annette Denzinger, Hans-Ulrich
Schnitzler. No evidence for spectral jamming avoidance in echolocation
behavior of foraging pipistrelle bats. Scientific Reports
The full text is available OPEN ACCESS at:
http://www.nature.com/articles/srep30978
Abstract:
Frequency shifts in signals of bats flying near conspecifics have been
interpreted as a spectral jamming avoidance response (JAR). However,
several prerequisites supporting a JAR hypothesis have not been
controlled for in previous studies. We recorded flight and echolocation
behavior of foraging /Pipistrellus pipistrellus/ while flying alone and
with a conspecific and tested whether frequency changes were due to a
spectral JAR with an increased frequency difference, or whether changes
could be explained by other reactions. /P. pipistrellus/ reacted to
conspecifics with a reduction of sound duration and often also pulse
interval, accompanied by an increase in terminal frequency. This
reaction is typical of behavioral situations where targets of interest
have captured the bat’s attention and initiated a more detailed
exploration. All observed frequency changes were predicted by the
attention reaction alone, and do not support the JAR hypothesis of
increased frequency separation. Reaction distances of 1–11 m suggest
that the attention response may be elicited either by detection of the
conspecific by short range active echolocation or by long range passive
acoustic detection of echolocation calls.
Cheers,
Jens
--
Jens Koblitz
BioAcoustics Network
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Germany
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