Anthropogenic noise and habitat structure shaping dominant frequency of bird sounds along urban gradients

Zezhou Hao; Chengyun Zhang; Le Li; Bingtao Gao; Ruichen Wu; Nancai Pei; Yang Liu

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.109056

Anthropogenic noise and habitat structure shaping dominant frequency of bird sounds along urban gradients

iScience. 2024 Jan 30;27(2):109056. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109056. eCollection 2024 Feb 16.

Authors

Zezhou Hao¹, Chengyun Zhang², Le Li¹, Bingtao Gao¹, Ruichen Wu¹, Nancai Pei¹, Yang Liu³

Affiliations

¹ Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China.
² School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China.

Abstract

The shifts of bird song frequencies in urbanized areas provide a unique system to understand avian acoustic responses to urbanization. Using passive acoustic monitoring and automatic bird sound recognition technology, we explored the frequency variations of six common urban bird species and their associations with habitat structures. Our results demonstrated that bird song frequencies in urban areas were significantly higher than those in peri-urban and rural areas. Anthropogenic noise and habitat structure were identified as crucial factors shaping the acoustic space for birds. We found that noise, urbanization, and open understory spaces are factors contributing to the increase in the dominant frequency of bird sounds. However, habitat variables such as vegetation density and tree height can potentially slow down this upward trend. These findings offer essential insights into the behavioral response of birds in a variety of urban forest habitats, with implications for urban ecosystem management and habitat restoration.

Keywords: Ecology; Evolutionary biology; Ornithology.