Publication Date

12-2014

Date of Final Oral Examination (Defense)

11-12-2014

Type of Culminating Activity

Thesis

Degree Title

Master of Science in Biology

Department

Biology

Supervisory Committee Chair

Jesse R. Barber, Ph.D.

Supervisory Committee Member

Jennifer Forbey, Ph.D.

Supervisory Committee Member

Julie Heath, Ph.D.

Abstract

Numerous studies document impacts of roads on wildlife, and suggest traffic noise as a primary cause of population declines near roads. For migratory birds faced with increasingly human-altered habitats, noise may pose a serious threat. Using an array of speakers, we applied traffic noise to a roadless landscape, directly testing the effect of noise alone on an entire songbird community. Focusing on individuals that stayed despite the noise, we demonstrate that songbirds show a near halving of ability to gain body condition when exposed to traffic noise during migratory stopover. This marked degradation in stopover efficiency may help explain dramatic declines in migratory songbirds worldwide. We conducted complementary laboratory experiments that implicate foraging-vigilance behavior as one mechanism driving this pattern. Our results suggest that noise pollution degrades habitat that is otherwise suitable, and that a species’ presence does not indicate the absence of impact.

Included in

Life Sciences Commons

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