Vocal Diversity in Frogs of the South American Temperate Forest

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Abstract
Mating calls and other vocalizations emitted in breeding areas by 11 leptodactylid and rhinodermatid species of the temperate austral forest in Chile were analyzed. Assemblages of sympatric calling species were always composed of a small number of species (4 maximum), which results in a simple acoustical environment relative to anuran communities in tropical rainforests. Acoustical separation among species is assured by differences in spectral and temporal components of the calls and diverse preferences for calling sites. Dominant frequencies were related to species size. The limited number of congeneric species coexisting in sympatry and the lack of mating calls in species of three leptodactylid genera contributes to the simplicity of the acoustical environment in southern Chile. Modes of call variation within and among genera suggest that the extant vocal diversity in this batrachofauna may have arisen during the course of independent evolutionary histories and that interactions among sympatric taxa have had a restricted role in these processes.