A Systematic Review of Anthropogenic Noise Impact on Avian Species
Margret Sibylle Engel, Robert J. Young, William J. Davies, David Waddington, Michael D. Wood
Abstract
Abstract Purpose of review This study aims to investigate anthropogenic noise impact on avian species by means of a systematic review of literature. Recent findings Based on previous anthropogenic noise impact frameworks, it was possible to: clarify the impacts of noise on birds; optimise the existing frameworks with findings produced over 44 years; recategorise noise impacts into more appropriate categories, indicating which are the positive and negatives, as well as acute and chronic impacts caused by anthropogenic noise; provide a significant cluster model of anthropogenic noise impacts on avian species subdivided into impacts on ‘Behaviour’ and ‘Communication/Perception’ (Cluster 1) and ‘Physiology’ (Cluster 2); and show how avian hearing frequency range overlaps noise source frequency range. Summary This research adopted the database of Peacock et al. [1, 2] regarding avian species due to its vast coverage across taxa. A systematic literature review of 50 peer-reviewed papers about anthropogenic noise impact on birds was undertaken. A Two-Step Cluster analysis was calculated, showing the data subdivided into two clusters. Cluster 1 (76.9%) showed behavioural responses mainly composed of negative and auditory perception and communication impacts, presenting positive or negative noise impacts. Cluster 2 (23.1%) mainly showed negative impacts on physiological outcomes caused by traffic, anthropogenic, and background noise.