Abstract
Animals must avoid predation to survive and reproduce, and there is increasing evidence that man-made (anthropogenic) factors can influence predator−prey relationships. Anthropogenic noise has been shown to have a variety of effects on many species, but work investigating the impact on anti-predator behaviour is rare. In this laboratory study, we examined how additional noise (playback of field recordings of a ship passing through a harbour), compared with control conditions (playback of recordings from the same harbours without ship noise), affected responses to a visual predatory stimulus. We compared the anti-predator behaviour of two sympatric fish species, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and the European minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus), which share similar feeding and predator ecologies, but differ in their body armour. Effects of additional-noise playbacks differed between species: sticklebacks responded significantly more quickly to the visual predatory stimulus during additional-noise playbacks than during control conditions, while minnows exhibited no significant change in their response latency. Our results suggest that elevated noise levels have the potential to affect anti-predator behaviour of different species in different ways. Future field-based experiments are needed to confirm whether this effect and the interspecific difference exist in relation to real-world noise sources, and to determine survival and population consequences.
Highlights
Noise-generating human activities, including transportation, urban development and resource exploitation, have changed the acoustic environment of many terrestrial and aquatic habitats around the world [1,2]
Sticklebacks (n = 35) were significantly more likely than minnows to respond to a visual predatory stimulus (GLMM: x21 = 18.0, p,0.001; stickleback odds 6.41 times higher than minnows (n = 27; confidence intervals (CI): 2.63, 15.63))
The effect of noise treatment on response latency significantly differed depending on species (MMCoxPH: interaction species:treatment x21 = 5.83, p = 0.016; figure 3)
Summary
Noise-generating human activities, including transportation, urban development and resource exploitation, have changed the acoustic environment of many terrestrial and aquatic habitats around the world [1,2]. Increasing evidence suggests that anthropogenic (man-made) noise can affect the behaviour of a diverse range of animals [2,3]. Avoidance of predation is crucial if animals are to survive and reproduce successfully [5], yet few studies have investigated the potential impact of anthropogenic noise on anti-predator behaviour (but see [6,7,8]). Studies exploring the effect of anthropogenic noise have generally collected data on only a single species (but see [12,13,14]). Since interspecific differences may alter the relative success of each species under conditions of anthropogenic disturbance, experimental tests of responses to the same noise source are important for an understanding of the potential effects on community composition and structure [15]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
