Birds and Anthropogenic Noise: Singing Higher May Matter (A Comment on Nemeth and Brumm, %26quot;Birds and Anthropogenic Noise: Are Urban Songs Adaptive?%26quot;)

作者：Slabbekoorn Hans^*; Yang Xiao Jing; Halfwerk Wouter

来源：American Naturalist, 2012, 180(1): 142-145.

DOI：10.1086/665991

In a recent theoretical study, Nemeth and Brumm explored the effect of amplitude and frequency variation in birdsongs on signal transmission in forested and noisy urban environments. They argued that %26quot;increased song pitch might not be an adaptation%26quot; but %26quot;an epiphenomenon of urbanization.%26quot; Here we address the validity of comparing the communication benefits of changes in amplitude and frequency to question the adaptive significance of %26quot;urban songs.%26quot; We believe that their calculations actually confirm considerable high-frequency benefits under noisy urban conditions, between and within species. Hence, we conclude that noise-dependent frequency shifts in urban birds can be adaptive.

• 出版日期2012-7
• 单位中国地质大学（北京）