The impact of noise from open-cast mining on Atlantic forest biophony

Impacts of Small-Scale Gold Mining on Birds and Anurans Near the Tambopata Natural Reserve, Peru, Assessed Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring

“…They also found significantly higher levels of noise at night during the wet season. Mining noise was related to a switch in the biophony patterns, with a higher biophony during the day at the site close to the mine and a higher biophony during the night at the site far from the mine, indicating an alteration of the temporal dynamics and patterns of animal sounds [18]. In another related study, Deichmann et al [19] used soundscape analysis to evaluate the impact of gas exploratory operations on biodiversity in a pre-montane forest in Peru, and found that noise from the operation negatively impacted the richness of sound frequencies of fauna up to ~500 m from the exploratory platform.…”

“…In a recent study, Duarte et al [18] found that mining noise from an open-cast mine (for example, trucks transiting, sirens, horns, and explosions) exhibited 1-22 dB(Z) higher levels of noise near the mining operations than in a forest site far from the mine. They also found significantly higher levels of noise at night during the wet season.…”

“…Using sound recordings to monitor biodiversity and individual species, especially in the tropics, is a useful tool to improve the understanding of wildlife and to evaluate impacts of extractive activities on vocalizing fauna [18,19]. In a recent study, Duarte et al [18] found that mining noise from an open-cast mine (for example, trucks transiting, sirens, horns, and explosions) exhibited 1-22 dB(Z) higher levels of noise near the mining operations than in a forest site far from the mine.…”

“…In the context of biodiversity assessments, passive acoustic monitoring has been used to monitor individual species [15], conduct rapid assessment surveys of biodiversity at the community level using acoustic indexes [17], and document the impacts of anthropogenic activities (such as industrial mining, and oil and gas exploration) [18,19]. Passive acoustic monitoring can detect more vocal species than traditional methods because it can record large volumes of acoustic data over an extended period.…”

Comparisons Between Autonomous Acoustic Recordings and Avian Point Counts in Open Woodland Savanna

“…Joo et al (2011) showed a negative relationship between urbanization levels and biophony intensity in an urban-rural landscape. Duarte et al (2015) investigated the effects of mining on biophony and found that nightly wet-season biological acoustic activity levels were higher at a greater distance from a mine, suggesting a negative effect of mining activity on the diversity and/or behavior of soniferous species. Laiolo and colleagues investigated the relationship between acoustic repertory size and geographic isolation of avian populations, showing that (1) the acoustic diversity within populations of Dupont's Lark (Chersophilus duponti) decreased with landscape patchiness (Laiolo and Tella 2006) and (2) this acoustic diversity could be positively related to bird population viability and could thus serve as an indicator of that viability (Laiolo et al 2008).…”