Anurans, the Group of Terrestrial Vertebrates Most Vulnerable to Climate Change: A Case Study with Acoustic Monitoring in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

We report preliminary analyses from an ongoing sound monitoring project that involves five species of anurans: two species of tree frogs in the genus Hyla (Hylidae) and three species of midwife toads in the genus Alytes (Discoglossidae) in the Iberian Peninsula. Each station was monitored with an automated recording system based on solid state recorders, coupled with programmable temperature and relative humidity probes. We present comparative data of vocal activity of two populations of Alytes cisternasii from thermal extremes of the species range using human detection and commercial automated sound recognition software. Parameters such as duration of reproductive season, preferred temperatures for calling activity and relation with relative humidity are discussed. We compare the performance of analysing the recordings between an automated system of detecting the presence of Alytes cisternasii calls and listening of the recordings by non-expert personnel.