Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Habitat Structure And Alarm Call Dialects In Gunnison's Prairie Dog (Cynomys Gunnisoni), Bianca S. Perla, C. N. Slobodchikoff

Con Slobodchikoff, PhD

We examined the relationship between habitat structure and alarm call characteristics in six colonies of Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) near Flagstaff, Arizona, before and after a mid-summer vegetation change. We found significant differences in alarm call characteristics between colonies, confirming the existence of alarm call dialects. Differences in frequency components but not temporal components of calls were associated with differences in habitat structure. Playback experiments revealed that differences in alarm call structure affected acoustic transmission of calls through the local habitat. Thus, we identify habitat structure as one factor that may contribute to alarm call differences between colonies of …