Chronic anthropogenic noise disrupts glucocorticoid signaling and has multiple effects on fitness in an avian community.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic noise is a pervasive pollutant that decreases environmental quality by disrupting a suite of behaviors vital to perception and communication. However, even within populations of noise-sensitive species, individuals still select breeding sites located within areas exposed to high noise levels, with largely unknown physiological and fitness consequences. We use a study system in the natural gas fields of northern New Mexico to test the prediction that exposure to noise causes glucocorticoid-signaling dysfunction and decreases fitness in a community of secondary cavity-nesting birds. In accordance with these predictions, and across all species, we find strong support for noise exposure decreasing baseline corticosterone in adults and nestlings and, conversely, increasing acute s

SUBMITTER: Kleist NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5789909 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature