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What Is Biotremology?

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Biotremology: Studying Vibrational Behavior

Part of the book series: Animal Signals and Communication ((ANISIGCOM,volume 6))

Abstract

When a new discipline emerges in science with many unique characteristics, but others that are shared with sister disciplines, defining the boundaries is critical. What is and is not part of the core precepts of this discipline is probably easier to establish within the community than what exists along the edges. Due to our perceptional bias in favor of airborne mechanical signals, a distinction between bioacoustics and biotremology, the former studying communication by sound and the latter by surface-borne mechanical waves, may appear unnecessary. In this chapter, the authors make the first concerted effort to define biotremology with comprehensive arguments, in order to address the specifics of this modality, while still leaving space for exploration and growth of this still-emerging field. Biotremology studies are not limited to intraspecific vibrational communication, but also include other behaviors guided by substrate vibrations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA

    Peggy S. M. Hill

  2. Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Meta Virant-Doberlet

  3. Museum of Natural History Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science at Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Andreas Wessel

Authors
  1. Peggy S. M. Hill
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  2. Meta Virant-Doberlet
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  3. Andreas Wessel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peggy S. M. Hill .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA

    Peggy S. M. Hill

  2. Institut für Tierphysiologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Gießen, Germany

    Reinhard Lakes-Harlan

  3. Department of Sustainable Agro-ecosystems & Bioresources, Edmund Mach Foundation – Research and Innovation Centre, San Michele all’Adige, Trento, Italy

    Valerio Mazzoni

  4. Departments of Physiological Science, Integrative Biology & Physiology, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Peter M. Narins

  5. Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Meta Virant-Doberlet

  6. Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

    Andreas Wessel

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Hill, P.S.M., Virant-Doberlet, M., Wessel, A. (2019). What Is Biotremology?. In: Hill, P., Lakes-Harlan, R., Mazzoni, V., Narins, P., Virant-Doberlet, M., Wessel, A. (eds) Biotremology: Studying Vibrational Behavior . Animal Signals and Communication, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22293-2_2

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