Noise from four types of extractive energy infrastructure affects song features of Savannah Sparrows

Warrington, Miyako H.; Curry, Claire; Antze, Bridget; Koper, Nicola

doi:10.1650/condor-17-69.1

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…While this study demonstrated that Savannah sparrows are less responsive to alarm calls in the presence of noise-producing infrastructure, many birds are able to alter the structure of songs [ 33 , 34 , 47 , 48 ] and alarm calls [ 37 , 38 ] in the presence of noise, in order to overcome interference. Thus, if Savannah sparrows alter the structure of alarm calls close to noisy infrastructure such as compressor stations, noise may present less of a barrier than suggested by this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Noisy anthropogenic infrastructure interferes with alarm responses in Savannah sparrows ( Passerculus sandwichensis )

Antze

Koper

2018

R. Soc. open sci.

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Many birds rely on anti-predator communication to protect their nests; however, anthropogenic noise from industrial activities such as oil and gas development may disrupt acoustic communication. Here, we conducted acoustic playback experiments to determine whether Savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) responded to conspecific alarm calls by delaying feeding visits, and whether this response was impaired by noise-producing natural gas compressor stations, generator- or grid-powered screw pump oil wells, and noise amplitude. We played alarm calls, and, as a control, western meadowlark songs, to Savannah sparrows as they approached their nests to feed their nestlings, and measured feeding latency. The greatest impacts on behaviour were detected at the noisiest treatment, compressor stations; feeding latency was shortened here compared with control sites, which may expose nests to greater predation risk. As noise amplitudes increased, Savannah sparrows took longer to feed following meadowlark playbacks, perhaps because noise interfered with interpretation of acoustic cues. The effects of compressor stations on anti-predator behaviour may be best explained by the distracting effects of anthropogenic noise, while increases in feeding latency following meadowlark playbacks may be explained by a heightened response threshold caused by acoustic masking. Industrial infrastructure can influence the reproductive success of wildlife through its impact on perception and interpretation of conspecific signals, but these effects are complex.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Noisy anthropogenic infrastructure interferes with alarm responses in Savannah sparrows ( Passerculus sandwichensis )

Antze

Koper

2018

R. Soc. open sci.

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“…We created 5 stimuli per song treatment (i.e., 5 adjusted song stimuli and 5 unadjusted song stimuli), for 10 total playback stimuli containing 30 songs from 10 individuals. Songs from both adjusted and unadjusted treatments were chosen to be typical of their category based on 5% and 95% frequency, 90% frequency bandwidth, peak frequency, aggregate entropy and average power 29 , 57 . Background noise was filtered below 1,500 Hz and above 12,000 Hz with a rolloff of 12 dB in Audacity 59 and all were played at a standardised amplitude.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 ). Savannah sparrows adjust their songs at both infrastructure types 29 . A mean of 14.0 ± 12.9s.d days (range 0–49.0) after colour-banding and CORT blood sampling, we played noise-adjusted and unadjusted songs to each colour-banded male and summed conspecific territorial aggression behaviours (hereafter “agonistic responses” for brevity) in six categories when the bird approached <20 m of the playback speaker: numbers of songs, calls, attacks (attacking speaker or flying over speaker) and wing flicks (an agitated movement); distance of closest approach; and time to closest approach.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noise Source and Individual Physiology Mediate Effectiveness of Bird Songs Adjusted to Anthropogenic Noise

Curry

Brisay

Rosa

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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Anthropogenic noise is a pervasive pollutant altering behaviour of wildlife that communicates acoustically. Some species adjust vocalisations to compensate for noise. However, we know little about whether signal adjustments improve communication in noise, the extent to which effectiveness of adjustments varies with noise source, or how individual variation in physiology varies with response capacity. We played noise-adjusted and unadjusted songs to wild Passerculus sandwichensis (Savannah Sparrows) after measurements of adrenocortical responsiveness of individuals. Playbacks using songs adjusted to noisy environments were effective in restoring appropriate conspecific territorial aggression behaviours in some altered acoustic environments. Surprisingly, however, levels of adrenocortical responsiveness that reduced communication errors at some types of infrastructure were correlated with increased errors at others. Song adjustments that were effective in communicating for individuals with lower adrenocortical responsiveness at pumpjacks were not effective at screwpumps and vice versa. Our results demonstrate that vocal adjustments can sometimes allow birds to compensate for disruptions in communication caused by anthropogenic noise, but that physiological variation among receivers may alter effectiveness of these adjustments. Thus mitigation strategies to minimize anthropogenic noise must account for both acoustic and physiological impacts of infrastructure.

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“…Birds have played a leading role in ANP research (Shannon et al, ). In particular, the reliance of birds on vocal communication for mating and territory defense (Slabbekoorn & Ripmeester, ; Warrington, Curry, Antze, & Koper, ), predator avoidance (Damsky & Gall, ) and migratory flight (Farnsworth, ; Hamilton, ) makes them especially sensitive to ANP (Francis, ; Shannon et al, ). Much of our understanding about how birds are affected by ANP is from short‐term behavioural work that has investigated whether birds alter acoustic signals in response to various types of ANP (e.g., Brumm & Naguib, ; Gross, Pasinelli, & Kunc, ; Roca et al, ) or studies at local scales that have investigated whether birds persist in areas exposed to chronic or high levels of ANP (Bayne et al, ; Francis et al, ; Francis, Paritsis, Ortega, & Cruz, , Francis, Kleist, Ortega, & Alexander, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographical associations with anthropogenic noise pollution for North American breeding birds

Klingbeil

Sorte

Lepczyk

et al. 2019

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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Aim: Anthropogenic noise pollution (ANP) is a globally invasive phenomenon impacting natural systems, but most research has occurred at local scales with few species.We investigated continental-scale breeding season associations with ANP for 322 bird species to test whether small-scale predictions related to breeding habitat, migratory behaviour, body mass and vocal traits are consistent at broad spatial extents for an extensive group of species.Location: Conterminous USA. Time period: 2004-2011.Major taxa studied: North American breeding birds. Methods:We calculated, for each species, the association between the breeding season and ANP, using spatially explicit estimates of ANP from the National Park Service and weekly estimates of probabilities of occurrence based on observations from the eBird citizen-science database. We evaluated how the association of the breeding season for each species with ANP was related to expectations based on size, migratory behaviour and breeding habitat. For a subset of species, we used vocal trait data for song duration, pitch and complexity to evaluate hypotheses from the birdsong literature related to habitat complexity and sensitivity to ANP.Results: Species that breed predominantly in anthropogenic environments were associated with twice the level of ANP (~7.4 dB) as species breeding in forested habitats (~3.2 dB). However, we did not find evidence to suggest that birds with higher-pitched songs are more likely to be found in areas with higher levels of ANP. Residents and migratory species did not differ in associations with ANP, but songs were less complex among forest-breeding species than non-forest-breeding species and increased in complexity with increasing ANP. Main conclusions:Anthropogenic noise pollution is an important factor associated with breeding distributions of bird species in North America. Vocal traits could be useful to understand factors that affect sensitivity to ANP and to predict the potential impact of ANP, although future studies should aim to understand how and why patterns differ across spatial scales. | 149KLINGBEIL Et aL.

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Noise from four types of extractive energy infrastructure affects song features of Savannah Sparrows

Cited by 14 publications

References 62 publications

Noisy anthropogenic infrastructure interferes with alarm responses in Savannah sparrows ( Passerculus sandwichensis )

Noisy anthropogenic infrastructure interferes with alarm responses in Savannah sparrows ( Passerculus sandwichensis )

Noise Source and Individual Physiology Mediate Effectiveness of Bird Songs Adjusted to Anthropogenic Noise

Geographical associations with anthropogenic noise pollution for North American breeding birds

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