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PASSERINE BIRDS BREEDING UNDER CHRONIC NOISE EXPERIENCE REDUCED FITNESS

INTRODUCTION
Anthropogenic noise can acoustically mask, and decrease, the efficacy of avian vocal communication Warning calls, territorial defense and mating signals can be impaired
Affects reproductive output Females laid smaller clutches in areas affected by noise

HYPOTHESIS 1
H1 impaired mate choice hypothesis:
Noise may interfere with the transmission of mate quality through bird song and a female assessing quality of mating partner Females are expected to invest less, lay smaller clutches, solicit more extra-pair copulations when in noisy environment.

HYPOTHESIS 2
H2 reduced territory-quality hypothesis:
Noisy areas expected to be populated by less experienced or younger individuals of lower quality, or to be avoided in general

HYPOTHESIS 3
H3 impaired chick development hypothesis:
Noise can induce psychological in chicks, which may lead to reduced growth Noise may mask acoustic communication between offspring and parents

METHODS
Data taken from a long-term (2001-2008) study on nestbox population of house sparrows on Lundy Island Low levels of migration allow for accurate fitness and recruitment estimates The population was heavily monitored from the first egg laying and nearly all the birds were individually marked as fledglings. Cross-fostering of twoday old hatchlings between nests were routinely carried out A set of generators have been running continuously each day producing low-frequency noise

METHODS (CONT.)
Reproductive Investment (H1):
Tested for incubation visits and incubation time Whether broods in noisy areas contained fewer eggs and hatchlings Whether seasonal timing of breeding differed

Territory Quality (H2):


Tested whether sparrows avoided breeding in the noisy area by comparing annual occupancy rates between the areas Examined for the possibility of low-quality or lessexperienced birds in noisy areas by comparing body mass and age of parent birds

METHODS (CONT.)
Chick Development (H3)
Tested for expectation that chicks that experienced noise grew more slowly Tested for differences in body mass between fledglings in different areas Corrected for time of the day because chicks were lighter at the start of morning before their starts started provisioning Whether parents provided less to broods in a noisy environment than elsewhere

REPRODUCTIVE INVESTMENT (H1)


Results:
Broods in the noisy area did not differ from broods in quiet area in the number of eggs Incubation visits did not differ between noisy and quiet environments Male and female sparrows spent a similar amount of time incubating broods in the noisy environment

TERRITORY QUALITY (H2)


Results:
Annual occupancy rates of nest boxes did not differ between the noisy area and elsewhere Body mass of sparrow parents was similar between quiet and noisy areas Female age did not differ but males were older at noisy areas

CHICK DEVELOPMENT (H3)


Results:
Chicks in a noisy area had a significantly lower body mass Females provisioned broods in noisy environment significantly less often than in other areas Males were individually more predicable caregivers than females Females visited their broods less often when breeding in a noisy environment. These results were not significantly different.

RESULTS (CONT.)

DISCUSSION
Results supported H3
A change in the feeding rate, as a response to noise, might be the cause for the low fitness in the noisy area

House sparrows reared in a noisy environment experienced Reduced parental provisioning Lower fledging mass Lower fledging and recruiting success

DISCUSSION
Impaired mate choice (H1) was not supported
Clutch size, breeding date and incubation behavior did not differ between noisy and quiet areas Mating decisions of females were not affected by noise

DISCUSSION
No support for impaired territory quality hypothesis (H2)
Sparrows did not avoid breeding in the noisy area Older males, but not females, were more likely to breed in noisy environment Older male=higher quality so noisy area may be desirable habitat Older house sparrows have a larger bib, which signals social dominance.

DISCUSSION
Twelve day old chicks were of lower body mass when reared in noisy environment
May be result of reduced provisioning frequency as a reaction to chronic stress

No evidence for an effect of stress in adults in noisy and quiet areas Chronic noise is known to induce stress-related changes along the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis

DISCUSSION
Provisioning rates were lower in the noisy environment than elsewhere
Sparrow females respond flexibly to short-term, familiar environmental noise with an immediate reduction in provisioning frequency Parent birds increase provisioning rate when presented with increased begging Females lowered provisioning rate in noisy environment, not males

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