meillere-impactofchronicnoise-2015.pdf (1.72 MB)
Impact of chronic noise exposure on antipredator behavior: an experiment in breeding house sparrows
journal contribution
posted on 2015-03-01, 00:00 authored by Alizee MeillereAlizee Meillere, F Brischoux, F AngelierOver the last century, expanding urbanization has led to a strong increase in the levels of background noise. This noise pollution has been shown to negatively affect wildlife (e.g., reduced species diversity and density, reduced breeding success), especially birds. Most research addressing the effects of anthropogenic noise has focused on avian communication and, to date, very little is known regarding the impact of chronic noise exposure on nonvocal behavior such as antipredator behavior. Here, we exposed free-living house sparrows (Passer domesticus) breeding in nest-boxes to either a playback of traffic noise (disturbed birds) or the rural background noise of the study site (no playback: control birds) during their first breeding attempt. We tested whether one of the female's antipredator behaviors (i.e., flushing distance) was affected by exposure to chronic noise and investigated the impact of chronic noise on reproductive performances. Disturbed females flushed more rapidly than controls, suggesting that birds may compensate for reduced ability to detect predators with increased vigilance. However, we found no significa nt effect of exposure to chronic noise on reproductive performances. Our findings show, for the first time, that chronic noise exposure can affect the antipredator behavior of a breeding bird.
History
Journal
Behavioral ecologyVolume
26Issue
2Pagination
569 - 577Publisher
Oxford University PressLocation
Oxford, Eng.Publisher DOI
ISSN
1045-2249eISSN
1465-7279Language
engPublication classification
C Journal article; C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2015, The AuthorUsage metrics
Categories
Keywords
anthropogenic noiseantipredator behaviorflushing distancehouse sparrowreproductive performanceScience & TechnologyLife Sciences & BiomedicineBehavioral SciencesBiologyEcologyZoologyLife Sciences & Biomedicine - Other TopicsEnvironmental Sciences & EcologyFLIGHT INITIATION DISTANCEPREDATION RISKURBAN NOISEAMBIENT NOISETRAFFIC NOISEHUMAN DISTURBANCEBODY CONDITIONVIGILANCEBIRDSEvolutionary BiologyZoologyEcology
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC