Abstract
Human-generated noise has profoundly changed natural soundscapes in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, imposing novel pressures on ecological processes. Despite interest in identifying the ecological consequences of these altered soundscapes, little is known about the sublethal impacts on wildlife population health and individual fitness. We present evidence that noise induces a physiological stress response in an amphibian and impairs mate attraction in the natural environment. Traffic noise increased levels of a stress-relevant glucocorticoid hormone (corticosterone) in female wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) and impaired female travel towards a male breeding chorus in the field, providing insight into the sublethal consequences of acoustic habitat loss. Given that prolonged elevated levels of corticosterone can have deleterious consequences on survival and reproduction and that impaired mate attraction can impact population persistence, our results suggest a novel pathway by which human activities may be imposing population-level impacts on globally declining amphibians.
Highlights
Noise generated by human activities permeates habitats throughout most of the world (Barber et al, 2010) and is predicted to increase in distribution and intensity with increasing human population growth (Babisch et al, 2005)
Acoustic treatment significantly affected the movement of gravid female wood frogs in the field (Λ4 = 12.58, P = 0.014; Fig. 3)
There was no effect of acoustic treatment on time to clear the arena for the subset of individuals that left the arena within the given trial period (F4,36 = 0.740, P = 0.571; Fig. 4)
Summary
Noise generated by human activities permeates habitats throughout most of the world (Barber et al, 2010) and is predicted to increase in distribution and intensity with increasing human population growth (Babisch et al, 2005). Many species rely on sound for critical fitness-related functions, including mate attraction, territory defense, predator detection and foraging (Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 2011). These activities are adapted to maximize signal transmission and detection within specific acoustic environments, characterized by combinations of spectral and temporal acoustic properties (the ‘acoustic adaptation hypothesis’; Morton, 1975). Noise created as a byproduct of human activities represents a novel pressure on acoustic habitats by altering the acoustic properties of the environments in which species’ communication systems evolved
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