Alert !
There is an article "Noise in Nature" featuring comments by Bernie Kraus in
the February issue of Texas Parks & Wildlife. The sub-title reads,
"Human-produced sounds can interfere with animals' normal mating, feeding
and hunting behavior."
Also, Charlotte Steelman at Davidson College is speaking on the subject at =
a
meeting in April. Here's an abstract of her presentation:
THE EFFECTS OF AIRPLANE NOISE ON ANURAN CALLING
Charlotte K. Steelman and Michael E. Dorcas
Department of Biology, Davidson College, Davidson NC 28035
Declines in amphibian populations have increased the need for understanding
the effects of human activity on amphibians. Recently, animal behaviorists
and conservation biologists have become concerned with the effect of
anthropogenic noise on wildlife. For species such as anurans that rely on
acoustic communication, anthropogenic noise can have profound effects on
their populations by interfering with their ability to communicate. In an
effort to understand how anthropogenic noise affects anuran calling
activity, we measured anuran calling activity and airplane noise at two
ephemeral wetlands in the western Piedmont of North Carolina using automate=
d
recording systems. Recordings were listened to in the lab, and both anuran
calling activity and airplane noise were evaluated using ordinal scales.
Using the cumulative odds model of ordinal logistic regression, we
determined if airplane noise significantly affected the calling behavior of
Acris crepitans, Bufo fowleri, Gastrophryne carolinensis, Hyla chrysoscelis=
,
Pseudacris crucifer, Pseudacris feriarum and Rana sphenocephala. Results
showed that A. crepitans, H. chrysoscelis, G. carolinensis and R.
sphenocephala called significantly less when airplane noise levels were hig=
h
than when airplane noise levels were low. Thus, our results suggest that
anthropogenic noise may negatively influence the calling activity and,
ultimately, the reproductive success of many anuran species.
Charlotte Steelman may be reached at:
Dr. Michael E. Dorcas may be reached at:
Gene
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