Abstract
Anthropogenic noise, including traffic noise, has been found to decrease risk assessment, decrease foraging, and increase stress in many adult vertebrates. Frogs often lay their eggs in roadside ditches, and the tadpoles remain there until metamorphosis, leaving them susceptible to the effects of traffic noise. However, it is unknown if tadpoles experience any negative side effects from traffic noise exposure. In this experiment, we examined how traffic noise impacts the feeding behavior of Cuban Tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) tadpoles. We found that tadpoles that were not exposed to traffic noise ate significantly more than tadpoles that were exposed to traffic noise. These results imply that exposure to traffic noise can lead to survival disadvantages. Consuming less food can affect growth and development, causing tadpoles to metamorphose into smaller and weaker frogs, and therefore hindering their chance for survival and reproduction.
Date Created
January 2017
STARS Citation
Castaneda, Erica, "Does Traffic Noise Affect the Feeding Behavior of Cuban Tree Frog Tadpoles?" (2017). EGS Content. 159.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/egs_content/159
https://works.bepress.com/erica-castaneda/1/download/
Included in
Animal Sciences Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Population Biology Commons