Published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the study informs how climate change affects amphibian breeding phenology and may guide broader phenological research across species.

Females may assess environmental suitability for reproduction by listening to the quality and tempo of male Sierran treefrog songs, a process influenced by warming ponds across the season.

Researchers at Quail Ridge Ecological Reserve and Lassen Field Station recorded frog calls to link water temperature with breeding vocalizations, showing how temperature drives call patterns.

Climate change is altering frog mating calls by speeding up tempo and improving perceived quality, making male calls sound more “sexy” as temperatures rise.

The project was led by UC Davis graduate student Juliann e Pekny, with senior author UC Davis Professor Eric Post and coauthor Brian Todd, and funded by multiple grants and endowments, including the Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant.

Conservation implications are critical, since roughly 41% of amphibian species are threatened, and understanding breeding timing under warming is essential for planning.

These findings offer potential conservation insights by improving knowledge of how warming affects breeding timing in amphibians.

Co-authors include Brian Todd and Eric Post, framing breeding timing as influenced by environmental cues embedded in frog songs.

Early, abundant male choruses draw in females, but females time their arrival to maximize egg survival, making timing a crucial factor for reproduction.

Humans can perceive shifts in frog calls over weeks, highlighting detectable changes in acoustic communication tied to climate-driven timing.

Findings could extend to other taxa, such as insects with mating calls, suggesting broader implications for climate-related shifts in reproductive timing.

The work could reshape views on wildlife responses to climate change and potentially extend to species with temperature-dependent mating calls.