Immediate signaling flexibility in response to experimental noise in urban, but not rural, white‐crowned sparrows

Gentry, Katherine E.; Derryberry, Elizabeth P.; Danner, Raymond M.; Danner, Julie E.; Luther, David

doi:10.1002/ecs2.1916

Cited by 35 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(122 reference statements)

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“…That is, through experience they may no longer attend to noise stimuli. Recent evidence suggests that modifiability of behaviours against noise can depend on prior experience with noise in birds (Gentry et al., ; LaZerte et al., ). However, although detection and initiation of phonotaxis can occur more quickly in nonoverlapping noise, the masking potential remains for overlapping noise and reductions in distraction due to noise with experience do not help mitigate the problem of failing to orient advertisement calls.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, there is plenty of evidence showing that signallers can reduce negative effects of acoustic masking by modifying their signal properties such as frequencies (Cunnington & Fahrig, ; Francis, Ortega, & Cruz, ; Patricelli & Blickley, ; Slabbekoorn & Peet, ) or amplitudes (i.e., the Lombard effects) (Halfwerk, Lea, Guerra, Page, & Ryan, ; Zollinger & Brumm, ). Moreover, recent studies have shown that prior experience with noise can be related to such modifiability in signallers (Gentry, Derryberry, Danner, Danner, & Luther, ; LaZerte et al., ). Although evidence of signaller responses to noise is quite common (Slabbekoorn, ), behavioural responses of signal receivers has received comparably very little attention (but see Kleist, Guralnick, Cruz, & Francis, ; Luther, Danner, Danner, Gentry, & Derryberry, ) and, to our knowledge, only one study has investigated behavioural plasticity in receivers in response to noise (Halfwerk, Bot, & Slabbekoorn, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Suffering in receivers: Negative effects of noise persist regardless of experience in female anurans

et al. 2018

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Anthropogenic noise is widespread, and growing evidence suggests that it can negatively affect animals through many different mechanisms including masking of cues and signals, distraction, and aversion to noise. Acoustic masking has received the most attention from researchers and recent evidence suggests that masking effects can be mitigated by alteration of signal frequencies or amplitudes by signalers. Additionally, alteration can be a learned response via prior experience with noise exposure. However, it remains unclear whether distraction or aversive effects due to noise can be mitigated by prior experience with noise, especially among signal receivers. Here, we addressed this gap by separating mechanisms of noise disturbances on female phonotaxis towards male advertisement calls in anurans. To do this, we experimentally examined phonotaxis of gravid females that differ in their prior experience with noise under three acoustic manipulations: spectrally overlapping and non‐overlapping noise that either mask or do not mask male advertisement calls respectively, plus a silent control. We confirm two experience‐dependent responses of noisy‐site individuals relative to quiet‐site individuals: faster initiation of phonotaxis under non‐overlapping noise and a stronger aversive response against overlapping noise. However, we showed that, for both noisy‐ versus quiet‐site individuals, both overlapping and non‐overlapping noise treatments resulted in delayed initiation and disorientation of phonotaxis relative to silent control treatments. Our study provides the first evidence to demonstrate that, although prior experience appears to mitigate the negative effects of distraction or aversion to noise, prior experience falls short of fully compensating for disrupted orientation through phonotaxis. Additionally, although most studies have emphasized masking of biologically relevant cues and signals as the most prominent mechanism by which noise negatively affects wild organisms, we show that non‐overlapping noise, which cannot cause signal and cue masking, can have negative consequences via distraction or aversive responses. This finding suggests that noise impacts could extend well beyond contexts involving acoustic cue detection and discrimination and deserves increased attention by researchers. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13130/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suffering in receivers: Negative effects of noise persist regardless of experience in female anurans

et al. 2018

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“…It is interesting to note that, in our study on mountain chickadees, had we only used focal males from quiet areas, we would have concluded that mountain chickadees clearly discriminated between Urban and Rural stimuli in experimental noise. This highlights the importance again of considering context and the effect that long-term familiarity with anthropogenic noise may have on free-ranging animals (Gentry et al, 2017;Harding et al, 2018;LaZerte et al, 2016;Nedelec et al, 2016). Finally, we appreciated comments provided by Walt Koenig and two anonymous reviewers that helped us improve the manuscript.…”

Section: Con Clus Ionsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…This highlights the importance again of considering context and the effect that long-term familiarity with anthropogenic noise may have on free-ranging animals (Gentry et al, 2017;Harding et al, 2018;LaZerte et al, 2016;Nedelec et al, 2016). Further laboratory and field studies of receiver detection and discrimination are needed to help determine whether this is the result of improved perception in noisy habitats by urban receivers or increased aggression in urban habitats, or some combination of the two.…”

Section: Con Clus Ionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A field test of the audibility of urban versus rural songs in mountain chickadees

2019

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Anthropogenic noise can mask avian vocalizations, and several urban‐dwelling species adjust frequency or amplitude of vocalizations in ways that appear to compensate for increased noise levels. Playback studies have investigated whether receivers differentiate between signals produced by rural and urban males, but it is difficult to determine whether differential response to stimulus reflects differences in audibility versus perceived differences in male signals/condition that result from urban settlement. Here, we performed paired‐playback trials to determine whether mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) differentiate urban versus rural songs when both stimuli were broadcast within noise. For each playback, stimuli were played in short bouts starting at a low signal‐to‐noise ratio and increasing in relative amplitude with each successive bout. If the primary function of adjusted urban songs is propagation in noise, we hypothesized that focal males would respond sooner to urban versus rural playbacks (detect at lower signal‐to‐noise ratios). If urban songs solely encode information about the male's condition (such as increased aggression), then we predicted only a differential aggressive response to playbacks once detected. If urban songs both increase propagation and embed information on male condition, we predicted a combination of both response types. We found no difference in latency to first response in urban versus rural songs, but some evidence for differential aggression to playback dependent on both stimulus type (urban vs. rural) and local ambient noise levels; focal males in noisy (urban) sites responded aggressively to both stimulus types, whereas focal males in quiet (rural) sites responded more aggressively to urban than to rural stimuli. This context‐dependent discrimination may be the result of increased aggression in urban habitats, improved communication in noisy habitats by urban signallers and receivers, or some combination of the two.

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“…The early experience hypothesis argues that the presence of noise during development affects song structure and production later in life. For example, evidence from black-capped chickadees ( Poecile atricapillus ) and white-crowned sparrows ( Zonotrichia leucophrys ) suggests that experiencing noise early in life may be necessary for the development of noise-induced plasticity in song frequency in adulthood [33, 34]. In addition to inducing plasticity, noise during development may mask lower frequency tutor songs and cause selective learning of songs with higher minimum frequencies in urban environments [35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban birdsongs: higher minimum song frequency of an urban colonist persists in a common garden experiment

Reichard

Atwell

Pandit

et al. 2019

Preprint

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21Environmental changes caused by urbanization and noise pollution can have profound 22 effects on acoustic communication. Many organisms use higher sound frequencies in 23 urban environments with low-frequency noise, but the developmental and evolutionary 24 mechanisms underlying these shifts are less clear. We used a common garden 25 experiment to ask whether changes in minimum song frequency observed 30 years 26 after a songbird colonized an urban environment are a consequence of behavioral 27 flexibility or canalized changes that occur early in development. We captured male 28 juvenile dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis thurberi) from two recently diverged 29 populations (urban and mountain) soon after they reached independence (aged 25-40 30 days), raised them in identical indoor aviaries, and studied their songs at an age of 31 three years. We found that the large population difference in minimum frequency 32 observed in the field persisted undiminished in the common garden despite the absence 33 of noise. We also found some song sharing between the common garden and natal field 34 populations, indicating that early song memorization before capture could contribute to 35 the persistent song differences in adulthood. These results are the first to show that 36 frequency shifts in urban birdsong are maintained in the absence of noise by genetic 37 evolution and/or early life experiences. 38 39 40 41 42 Introduction 43Anthropogenic noise can alter the biology of diverse animal taxa at organismal, 44 population, and even community scales [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. In particular, the low frequency 45 background noise often associated with urbanization can interfere with animal 46 communication and has been associated with changes in acoustic signals that improve 47 sound transmission [8, 9]. One such change that is widely observed in urban 48 environments is increased minimum frequency of acoustic signals, which may be an 49 adaptation to overcome the masking effects of low-frequency noise [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Our 50 understanding of the developmental and evolutionary mechanisms that may underlie 51 such changes in acoustic signaling remains limited [9,[17][18][19][20][21][22]. Species such as oscine 52 songbirds that learn their songs are of particular interest due to the potential for cultural 53 evolution and other forms of behavioral plasticity, which can facilitate rapid change in 54 response to anthropogenic noise [23][24][25]. 55Several non-mutually exclusive hypotheses have been proposed to explain 56 changes in song frequency in urban environments [9, 26], including short-term plasticity, 57 ontogenetic effects (early experience), and evolutionary change across generations. 58The plasticity hypothesis argues that frequency shifts are the result of behavioral 59 flexibility in response to the presence or absence of a noise stimulus. Some studies in 60 oscine songbirds have found evidence supporting plasticity either through rapid 61 increases in minimum song frequency [18, 22, 27, 28] or switching to...

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Immediate signaling flexibility in response to experimental noise in urban, but not rural, white‐crowned sparrows

Cited by 35 publications

References 50 publications

Suffering in receivers: Negative effects of noise persist regardless of experience in female anurans

Suffering in receivers: Negative effects of noise persist regardless of experience in female anurans

A field test of the audibility of urban versus rural songs in mountain chickadees

Urban birdsongs: higher minimum song frequency of an urban colonist persists in a common garden experiment

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