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Nelson-Olivieri JR, Layden TJ, Antunez E, Khalighifar A, Lasky M, Laverty TM, Sanchez KA, Shannon G, Starr S, Verahrami AK, Bombaci SP. Inequalities in noise will affect urban wildlife. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:163-174. [PMID: 37985897 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02257-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
Understanding how systemic biases influence local ecological communities is essential for developing just and equitable environmental practices that prioritize both human and wildlife well-being. With over 270 million residents inhabiting urban areas in the United States, the socioecological consequences of racially targeted zoning, such as redlining, need to be considered in urban planning. There is a growing body of literature documenting the relationships between redlining and the inequitable distribution of environmental harms and goods, green space cover and pollutant exposure. However, it remains unknown whether historical redlining affects the distribution of urban noise or whether inequitable noise drives an ecological change in urban environments. Here we conducted a spatial analysis of how urban noise corresponds to the distribution of redlining categories and a systematic literature review to summarize the effects of noise on wildlife in urban landscapes. We found strong evidence to indicate that noise is inequitably distributed in redlined urban communities across the United States, and that inequitable noise may drive complex biological responses across diverse urban wildlife, reinforcing the interrelatedness of socioecological outcomes. These findings lay a foundation for future research that advances relationships between acoustic and urban ecology through centring equity and challenging systems of oppression in wildlife studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasmine R Nelson-Olivieri
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Tamara J Layden
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Edder Antunez
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Ali Khalighifar
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Monica Lasky
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Theresa M Laverty
- Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Karina A Sanchez
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
| | - Graeme Shannon
- School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, UK
| | - Steven Starr
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Anahita K Verahrami
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Sara P Bombaci
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
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Sanchez KA, Fialko K, Benedict L, Cicero C. Time alters urban singing strategies in a North American songbird. Journal of Urban Ecology 2023. [DOI: 10.1093/jue/juad001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Local habitats shape animal vocalizations through selection to improve transmission of signals to receivers. This process can be variable, however, when landscapes are changing continuously due to urbanization or other factors. Studies have shown that some birds alter the frequency, amplitude and structure of their songs in urban habitats. Because songbirds learn their songs from other individuals, this cultural transmission can result in substantial change over time. Urban bird populations may therefore show rapid shifts in song form and variation may result from the combined or interacting effects of time and anthropogenic habitat change. In this study, we used historic and recent song recordings to investigate changes in spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) songs over 45 years across an urban-to-rural gradient in northern California. We found that pre-trill and trilled song parts covaried differently with urban development at the two time-points, with more change occurring in trill phrases than pre-trills. Additionally, we found that birds in 1970 adjusted trills in urban areas by raising maximum frequencies and broadening bandwidths, while birds in 2015 narrowed song bandwidths by decreasing maximum frequencies in more urban areas. These results did not fit our prediction that urbanization would have a consistent effect on song at two time-points. We suggest that habitat, cultural evolution and cultural drift can act on song elements in complicated ways that vary over time.
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