An experimental test of chronic traffic noise exposure on parental behaviour and reproduction in zebra finches

Abstract

Chronic traffic noise is increasingly recognised as a potential hazard to wildlife. Several songbird species have been shown to breed poorly in traffic noise exposed habitats. However, identifying whether noise is causal in this requires experimental approaches. We tested whether experimental exposure to chronic traffic noise affected parental behaviour and reproductive success in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). In a counterbalanced repeated-measures design, breeding pairs were exposed to continuous playback of one of two types of highway noise previously shown to be either neutral (control) or aversive. Parental nest attendance positively correlated with feeding effort and was higher for the aversive than the control sound and this effect was more pronounced for parents attending larger broods. However, neither noise condition affected offspring number, growth or body mass. The absence of an effect held when we combined our data with data from two other comparable studies into a meta-analysis. We discuss whether the increased nest attendance could be a compensatory strategy that alleviated detrimental noise effects on the chicks, and whether it could be caused by impaired parent-offspring or within-pair communication. Future work should test these hypotheses and investigate potential long-term costs of increased parental engagement.

Differential impact of anthropogenic noise during the acoustic development of begging calls in Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus)

“…It could be that parent-offspring communication is disrupted during certain vulnerable periods, as we have predicted, leading to suboptimal provisioning behaviour and therefore reduced growth rate, but parents may be able to compensate for such a detrimental effect if communication is efficient during other periods of development. Through an experimental and a meta-analytic study, Liu et al (2022) did not find any effect of chronic traffic noise on growth rates of nestlings, although parents showed increased nest attendance under high levels of noise. In this scenario, even though reproductive success seems unaffected, it is possible that provisioning parents could suffer greater costs under noisy conditions, which may compromise their own survival (Nur 1984, Santos & Nakagawa 2012.…”

“…Through an experimental and a meta‐analytic study, Liu et al . (2022) did not find any effect of chronic traffic noise on growth rates of nestlings, although parents showed increased nest attendance under high levels of noise. In this scenario, even though reproductive success seems unaffected, it is possible that provisioning parents could suffer greater costs under noisy conditions, which may compromise their own survival (Nur 1984, Santos & Nakagawa 2012).…”

“…Anthropogenic noise has also been associated with higher stress in both adults and nestlings and may reduce growth rate or body condition (Potvin & MacDougall-Shackleton 2015, Injaian et al 2018, Zollinger et al 2019, although other studies have not found any detrimental effect of anthropogenic noise on nestling development (Liu et al 2022) or fledging success (Leonard & Horn 2008). Potvin and MacDougall-Shackleton (2015) found that nestlings reared under experimentally increased noise conditions showed reduced weight gain in the early stages of development, but there was no difference in nestling mass compared with fledglings reared under quiet conditions.…”

Interactions of noise and urban greenery with special reference to biodiversity

“…(Dooling i sur., 2019). S gledišta na ljudsko zdravlje, očuvanje urbane bioraznolikosti se treba percipirati kao ulaganje u javno zdravstvo (Marselle, 2021).…”

Developmental programming by prenatal sounds: insights into possible mechanisms

“…It is therefore not known whether detrimental effects on young only occur indirectly through parental disturbance and the disruption of parental care and/or maternal effects (e.g. Liu et al, 2022;Nedelec et al, 2017), or whether noise itself can directly impair development. Loud noise, including during development, is known to cause 'acoustic trauma', i.e.…”