Counting chirps: acoustic monitoring of cryptic frogs

Abstract

Global amphibian declines have resulted in a vital need for monitoring programmes that follow population trends. Monitoring using advertisement calls is ideal as choruses are undisturbed during data collection. However, methods currently employed by managers frequently rely on trained observers and/or do not provide density data on which to base trends. This study explores the utility of monitoring using acoustic spatially explicit capture–recapture (aSCR) with time of arrival (ToA) and signal strength (SS) as a quantitative monitoring technique to measure call density of a threatened but visually cryptic anuran, the Cape peninsula moss frog Arthroleptella lightfooti. The relationships between temporal and climatic variables (date, rainfall, temperature) and A. lightfooti call density at three study sites on the Cape peninsula, South Africa, were examined. Acoustic data, collected from an array of six microphones over 4 months during the winter breeding season, provided a time series of call density estimates. Model selection indicated that call density was primarily associated with seasonality fitted as a quadratic function. Call density peaked mid-breeding season. At the main study site, the lowest recorded mean call density (0·160 calls m−2 min−1) occurred in May and reached its peak mid-July (1·259 calls m−2 min−1). The sites differed in call density, but also the effective sampling area. Synthesis and applications. The monitoring technique, acoustic spatially explicit capture–recapture (aSCR), quantitatively estimates call density of calling animals without disturbing them or their environment. In addition, time of arrival (ToA) and signal strength (SS) data significantly add to the accuracy of call localization, which in turn increases precision of call density estimates without the need for specialist field staff. This technique appears ideally suited to aid the monitoring of visually cryptic, acoustically active species.