Publication
Title
Little parental response to anthropogenic noise in an urban songbird, but evidence for individual differences in sensitivity
Author
Abstract
Anthropogenic noise exposure has well-documented behavioral, physiological and fitness effects on organisms. However, whether different noise regimes evoke distinct responses has rarely been investigated, despite implications for tailoring noise mitigation policies. Urban animals might display low responsiveness to certain anthropogenic noise regimes, especially consistent noise (e.g. freeway noise), but might remain more sensitive to more diverse noise regimes. Additionally, whether individuals differ in noise sensitivity is a rarely explored issue, which is important to fully understand organismal responses to noise. To address these knowledge gaps, we used a field experiment to measure how urban great tits (Parus major) altered parental behaviors in response to two noise regimes: consistent freeway noise, and a diverse anthropogenic noise regime that incorporated variability in noise type and temporal occurrence. We also evaluated whether sex, age, or a well-described personality trait, novel environment exploration behavior, were associated with responses to noise, although our power to assess individual differences in responses was somewhat limited. We found no evidence for mean population-level changes in nestling provisioning behaviors during either noise treatment. However, despite this overall canalization of behavior, there was evidence for individual differences in noise sensitivity, particularly during the diverse noise treatment. Females and birds that explored a novel environment more rapidly (fast explorers) reduced nestling provisioning rate more relative to baseline levels than males and slow explorers during the diverse urban noise, but not during the consistent freeway noise. Furthermore, first year breeders and fast explorers displayed larger increases in latency to return to the nest box relative to baseline conditions during the diverse noise only. Results suggest that urban animal populations might become overall tolerant to anthropogenic noise, but that certain individuals within these populations nonetheless remain sensitive to certain types of noise exposure.
Language
English
Source (journal)
The science of the total environment. - Amsterdam, 1972, currens
Related dataset(s)
Publication
Amsterdam : 2021
ISSN
0048-9697 [print]
1879-1026 [online]
DOI
10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2020.144554
Volume/pages
769 (2021) , p. 1-12
Article Reference
144554
ISI
000626618100039
Pubmed ID
33477051
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Developmental and later life effects of light and noise pollution: physiological stress, telomere dynamics and fitness.
Metal Pollution and Oxidative Stress: Exploring effects on aging rate, behavior and fitness.
Effects of light pollution on behavioural, life-history and physiological traits in a songbird: an integrative approach.
Integrative and experimental study of the effects of artificial light exposure at night during development in birds in the real world: merging mechanistic approaches with short- and long-term health and fitness consequences.
SLEEP IN THE CITY: How does artificial light at night affect EEG-based measures of sleep (CitySleep)?
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 09.02.2021
Last edited 10.11.2024
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