Convenors:
Dr. Torben Dabelsteen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Dr. Nicolas Mathevon, Université de Saint-Etienne, France

Most animals live in communication networks in which several individuals are simultaneously within signaling range of each other. This allows for complicated patterns of information flow among individuals, especially when their signals are able to pass obstacles. Acoustic signals possess this ability to some extent, but they also suffer degradation, attenuation and masking from background noise during transmission in the habitat. Some environments are more constraining than others. For instance, in forests with dense vegetation sound signals usually suffer heavy degradation and attenuation while background noise may be the largest problem to animals living in open colonies. During the symposium, we will examine the physical nature of transmission-caused sound degradation and the effects of the nature of the sound signal and of the spatial arrangement of both senders and receivers. Special emphasis will be given to the possible role of environmental factors in the evolution of sound signal design and behavioural strategies.
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1. Nicolas Mathevon, Thierry Aubin, Torben Dabelsteen and Jacques Vielliard: Are communication activities shaped by environmental constraints in reverberating and sound-absorbing forest habitats?

2. Mark Padgham: A method for predicting the acoustic degradation of birdsongs propagated through forested environments

3. Torben Dabelsteen: Strategies that facilitate or counter eavesdropping in vocal interactions in songbirds

4. Ole Næsbye Larsen: Does the environment constrain avian sound localization?

5. Helene Lampe, Torben Dabelsteen, Ole N. Larsen and Simon B. Petersen: Degradation of song in a species using nesting holes: the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca

6. Thierry Aubin: Penguins and the noisy word
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Convenors:
Dr. David Chesmore, University of York, England
Dr. Teruyo Oba, Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba, Japan

There is increasing interest in the development of systems capable of automatically identifying animal species and sounds in general. Over recent years, rapid increases in computer speed, memory and low power computing are leading to possibilities unachievable in the past. These include the development of portable bioacoustic species identification systems for use in the field, long-term unattended sound identification systems and large-scale sound mapping. Current research in bioacoustic signal identification is increasing world-wide and some projects include investigations on cetaceans, birds (including nocturnal migrating birds), insects (Orthoptera, Homoptera and insect pests) and mammals (deer and bats), especially the recognition of individuals. The symposium aims to give an overview of the current state of the art and detail the various techniques currently being used for automated identification, such as frequency and time domain techniques and classification techniques including linear classifiers and artificial neural networks. The papers will illustrate practical applications and demonstrations will be given when possible.
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1. David Chesmore: Automated bioacoustic identification of species

2. Christina Sommer and Roger Mundry: Tonal vocalizations in a noisy environment: an approach to their semi-automatic analysis and examples of its application

3. Teruyo Oba: Applications of automated bioacoustic identification in environmental education and assesment

4. Eiji Ohya: Identification of Tibicen cicada species by a principal components analysis of their songs

5. Carmen Bazúa-Durán: Differences in the whistle characteristics and repertoire of Bottlenose and Spinner Dolphins

6. Claudia Erber and Sheila M. Simão: Qualitative and quantitative analysis of whistles produced by the Tucuxi Dolphin Sotalia fluviatilis from Sepetiba Bay in several behavioral situations.
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Convenors:
Dr. Thierry Aubin, Université Paris-Sud, France
Dr. Dilmar A. G. Oliveira, Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Brazil

That animals can recognize each other by voice has been demonstrated repeatedly by ethologists. Successful demonstration of species' vocal recognition, mainly in birds and to a less extent in mammals, prompted studies of population (dialect), neighbour-stranger, mate, parent-offspring, one-another discriminations. One of the most interesting findings of these studies is that individual recognition appears to involve vocal learning. From these studies, some new questions have emerged that could be discussed during the symposium (non-exhaustive list!): Is individual vocal recognition widespread among animals? Are the acoustic structures supporting individual recognition similar to those supporting species-specific recognition? Do animals recognize the identity of an emitter by features other than the time-frequency structure of signals (such as the variety or the organization of the repertoire)? Does a large vocal repertoire affect individual discrimination? What neural pathways are implicated? What is the adaptive value of individual recognition by sounds for gregarious or non-gregarious animals?
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1. Thierry Aubin, Nicolas Mathevon, Maria Luisa da Silva and Jacques Vielliard: How a simple and stereotyped acoustic signal transmits individual information: the song of the White-browed Warbler Basileuterus leucoblepharus

2. Rosana Suemi Tokumaru, Patrícia F. Monticelli and César Ades: Individual differences in infant Guinea Pigs Cavia porcellus isolation whistles and lack of maternal recognition

3. Nicolas Mathevon, Isabelle Charrier and Thierry Aubin: A memory like a Fur Seal female: long-lasting recognition of pup's voice by mothers

4. Kexiong Wang, Ding Wang and Tomonari Akamatsu: Individual acoustical characteristics of free-ranging and captive Yangtze Finless Porpoises Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis

5. Eduardo M. Arraut and Jacques Vielliard: The song of the Brazilian population of Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae, in the year 2000: individual variations in the song and its possible implication

6. Dilmar A. G. Oliveira and César Ades: Loud calling in two species of howler monkeys

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Convenors:
Prof. Dr. Dietmar Todt, Free University of Berlin, Germany
Prof. Dr. Francisco D. C. Mendes, Universidade Católica de Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil

The accomplishments of birds in vocal learning invite comparisons with the achievements of other organisms. However, only some mammals, e.g. cetaceans and bats and, apart from the songbirds, only a few taxa of birds, e.g. hummingbirds and parrots, have been reported to acquire their vocal signals by imitation. And, with the exception of oscines birds and parrots, systematic studies on this issue are rare. In this symposium we therefore address some typical issues of song memorisation and song use in birds, and contrast them to selected vocal accomplishments of primates and especially of humans, such like whistled languages and whispered speech.
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1. Dietmar Todt: From birdsong to speech: an introduction

2. Nicole Geberzahn and Henrike Hultsch: Long-time storage of song types in birds: evidence from interactive playbacks

3. Henrik Brumm: Implications of vocal directionality: how a songbird changes its singing behaviour depending on the context of communication

4. Francisco D. C. Mendes and César Ades: Functional analysis of Neotropical primates vocalizations: the problem of recombinatory contact calls

5. Dilmar A. G. Oliveira and César Ades: Long-distance calls in Neotropical primates

6. Julien Meyer: Bioacoustics of human whistled languages: an alternative approach of the cognitive processes of language

7. Jasmin Cirillo: Auditory vigilance and the perception of nonverbal signal parameters: responses to whispered vocalizations
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Symposium V
Bioacoustics and Biodiversity

Convenors:
Prof. Dr. Hans-Wolfgang Helb, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Prof. Dr. Luiz dos Anjos, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, Brazil

Animal sound communication signals represent a particular manifestation of biodiversity. This is especially well documented among birds, the animal group best known in both taxonomic and bioacoustic aspects. Avian bioacoustic research is related to biodiversity studies in two ways: firstly, in describing one of the most fascinating of the multiple faces of animal diversity, and secondly in serving as a potent and ecologically-correct tool for measuring and monitoring the diversity of complex communities. The aim of this symposium is to emphasize the contributions that bioacoustics can offer to the study and preservation of biodiversity around the world, and especially in the Neotropics.
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1. Hans-Wolfgang Helb: Structure and function in bird songs: deciphering songs and their information in European songbirds

2. Nathalie Seddon and Joe A. Tobias: Birdsong and diversity in Amazonia: using spectral analysis and playback to examine the role of song in allopatric speciation

3. Márcio F. Avelino and Jacques Vielliard: Comparative analysis of the song of the Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis ( Emberizidae) between Campinas and Botucatu, São Paulo state, Brazil

4. J. Hernán Fandiño-Mariño and Jacques Vielliard: Description of complex communication signals: the case of the Blue-black Grassquit Volatinia jacarina (Emberizidae) song

5. Luiz dos Anjos: Bioacoustics and Biodiversity: Bird Point Counts
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Convenors:
Prof. Dr. Michel Kreutzer, Université de Paris X - Nanterre, France
Claudio V. Mello, M.D., Ph.D., Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, USA

For the past several decades, birds and bats have proven invaluable model systems for the study of the mechanisms involved in the production, perception and learning of signals used for vocal communication. This symposium will address some recent advances in our understanding of both brain and peripheric mechanisms for vocal communication. Presentations will cover how molecular, anatomical, electro-physiological and behavioral studies have contributed to the field.[top]

1. Michel Kreutzer: Bird song and brain

2. Manfred Gahr: Neural correlates of hormone-dependent vocal pattern of adult songbirds

3. Fanny Rybak and Manfred Gahr: Modulation by steroid hormones of a "sexy" acoustic signal in an oscine species, the common Canary Serinus canaria

4. Claudio Mello: Mapping vocal communication pathways in birds with inducible gene expression

5. Christine Portfors: Processing of vocalizations in the inferior colliculus of the Moustached Bat Pteronotus parnellii

6. Roderick A. Suthers: Vocal mechanisms in birds and bats: a comparative view
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Convenors:
Dr. Richard Ranft, Wildlife Section, The British Library Sound Archive, London, UK
Eng. J. Dalgas Frisch, APVS, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Recordings of animal sounds have been systematically collected in many countries over the past 50 years. In recent years, technological developments have transformed the way that sounds can be sampled, stored and accessed. This symposium will give a broad overview of the rapid growth in reference collections of recordings from the early years to the present day and look ahead to future developments. It will review internationally adopted standards for preserving sounds and offer practical advice to individual bioacousticians and archivists as to the best practices. This is particularly important today with the increasing number of samples being collected in the species-rich regions of the Neotropics, and with the new challenges and opportunities offered by the digital revolution.
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1. Patrick Sellar: A century of recorded wildlife sounds

2. J. Dalgas Frisch: Recording bird songs in Brazil: their value for education and conservation

3. Richard Ranft: Natural Sound Archives: past, present and future

4. Jacques Vielliard: Establishing a bioacoustic collection in the Neotropics: present and future of the "Arquivo Sonoro Neotropical"

5. Fernando González-García: The Mexican Bird Sound Library
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Convenors:
Prof. Dr. José R. C. Piqueira, Escola Politécnica, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
Dr. Anil Kumar, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, India

The complexity of the song of some bird species is not only cumbersome to describe, it is above all a challenge to measure. Sonographic analysis permits a detailed characterization of any sound, and the most complex bird songs can be reduced to their physical parameters in a way that permits measurements and comparisons to be made. The challenge to be addressed in this symposium is to make objective calculations of these complexity values. Similarities among sound units, structural organization and temporal sequencing of these sound units and the flow of the encoded information are some of the measures that would help to make comparative analysis of complex bird songs. However, such complexity is attained by very different means, rendering direct comparisons difficult to make.
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1. Jacques Vielliard: Complex communication signals: the case of bird songs

2. José R. C. Piqueira: Bits and q-bits as versatility measures

3. Maria Luisa da Silva, Dora F. Ventura and Jacques Vielliard: Application of information theory reveals vocal learning in the White-vented Violetear Colibri serrirostris (Aves, Trochilidae)

4. Nilson E. Souza-Fº, Maria Luisa da Silva and Jacques Vielliard: Similarity measure between spectrographic images of bird song notes

5. Roger Mundry and Christina Sommer: A commonly overlooked issue in the application of discriminant function analysis to acoustical data

6. Anil Kumar: Acoustic communication in the Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer
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1. Matija Gogala and Tomi Trilar: Bioacoustic investigations of the singing cicadas of the Cicadetta montana species complex (Homoptera: Cicadidae)

2. Alain Jacot, Hannes Scheuber and Martin W. G. Brinkhof: Condition dependence of a multicomponent sexual signal in the Field Cricket Gryllus campestris

3. Laure Desutter-Grandcolas and Tony Robillard: Acoustic evolution in crickets: need for phylogenetic study and a reappraisal of signal effectiveness

4. Tony Robillard and Laure Desutter-Grandcolas: Evolution of acoustic communication in crickets: the case of the Eneopterinae

5. Stefan Leitner and Clive K. Catchpole: Song structure and the size of the song control system in captive Common Canaries Serinus canaria

6. Gérard Nicolas, Cloé Fraigneau and Thierry Aubin: Seasonal variation in the behavioural responses of Budgerigars Melopsittacus undulatus to an alarm call

7. Paula Caycedo, Gary F. Stiles and Donald Kroodsma: Comparative study of singing behavior in the Apolinari Wren Cistothorus apolinari
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1. Raimund Specht: Compact and user-friendly ultrasound acquisition systems optimised for field recording

2. Axel Michelsen and Ole Næsbye Larsen: Properties of pressure difference receiving ears

3. Ana Yoshi Harada, Carlos José Monteiro Ribeiro and Maria Luisa da Silva: Sound production in the "Tocandira" Ant Paraponera clavata

4. William L. Overal: Acoustic male-to-male signaling in the Cracker Butterfly Hamadryas feronia

5. Violaine Depraz and Paulo Mota: Reproductive behaviour in female Common Serins Serinus serinus is sensitive to medium-term field playback of male song during nest-building

6. Simone Masin, Renato Massa and Luciana Bottoni: Subsong development in fledgling Meyer's Parrots Poicephalus meyeri: tutoring evidences

7. Nicole Geberzahn, Henrike Hultsch and Dietmar Todt: How to achieve interactive competence: cues from experimentally induced vocal interactions in songbirds

8. Katharina Grosse and Dietmar Todt: Relationships between signal structure and function: the case of whistle-songs in the Common Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos

9. Henrike Hultsch and Dietmar Todt: Cognitive processes involved in the development of large song repertoires

10. Patrícia Ferreira Monticelli, César Ades, Rosana Suemi Tokumaru and Ludmila Constantinov: Motivational and ontogenetical variability in Guinea Pig Cavia porcellus pup distress whistles

11. Vera Sabatini and Carlos Ramon Ruiz-Miranda: Long distance vocal communication by the Golden Lion Tamarin Leontopithecus rosalia: strategies of emission and call degradation

12. Vagner José de Albuquerque and Thaïs Leiroz Codenotti: Vocal repertoire of the Black Howler Monkey Alouatta caraya in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

13. Vyacheslav A. Ryabov: Study of a dolphin lower jaw morphology and calculation of an echolocation hearing beam pattern

14. Paula Caycedo and Luis Miguel Renjifo: How to identify sounds with the eyes: sonograms for bird song identification

15. Vanessa Zacher and C. Niemitz: Why is a smile audible? A new hypothesis on the evolution of sexual behaviour and voice
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