Dear Colleagues, On behalf of my co-authors, I'm pleased to announce the publication of a new paper: "Dolphins Adjust Species-Specific Frequency Parameters to Compensate for Increasing Background Noise" Elena Papale, Marco Gamba, Monica Perez-Gil, Vidal Martel Martin, Cristina Giacoma PLoS ONE 10(4): e0121711. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0121711 A PDF version of the paper is available online at: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0121711 or via email request to: elena.papale@iamc.cnr.it ABSTRACT An increase in ocean noise levels could interfere with acoustic communication of marine mammals. In this study we explored the effects of anthropogenic and natural noise on the acoustic properties of a dolphin communication signal, the whistle. A towed array with four elements was used to record environmental background noise and whistles of short-beaked common-, Atlantic spotted- and striped-dolphins in the Canaries archipelago. Four frequency parameters were measured from each whistle, while Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) of the background noise were measured at the central frequencies of seven one-third octave bands, from 5 to 20 kHz. Results show that dolphins increase the whistlesÂ’ frequency parameters with lower variability in the presence of anthropogenic noise, and increase the end frequency of their whistles when confronted with increasing natural noise. This study provides the first evidence that the synergy among SPLs has a role in shaping the whistles' structure of these three species, with respect to both natural and anthropogenic noise. Best, Elena -- -- Elena Papale, PhD Institute for Coastal Marine Environment National Research Council Via del Mare 3 91021 Torretta Granitola (TP) Italy elena.papale@iamc.cnr.it elenabiancapapale@gmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.