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Chronic urban stressors and their effect on avian behavior

Svensson, Emil (2018) BIOK01 20181
Degree Projects in Biology
Popular Abstract
Stressed out birds in the big city

Although cities occupy only a small geographical portion of the planet’s dry land, the ecological opportunities they provide mean that more animals than ever find themselves within urban boundaries. How animals respond to stress factors in cities is therefore of great importance. It turns out that we humans are not the only ones who find that city life comes with both benefits and drawbacks.

Among the most important urban chronic stressors are traffic noise and artificial light at night. Birds are among the most common vertebrates in modern cities, and we wanted to investigate the behavioural effects on birds exposed to these disturbances, both separately and in combination. We looked at movement,... (More)
Stressed out birds in the big city

Although cities occupy only a small geographical portion of the planet’s dry land, the ecological opportunities they provide mean that more animals than ever find themselves within urban boundaries. How animals respond to stress factors in cities is therefore of great importance. It turns out that we humans are not the only ones who find that city life comes with both benefits and drawbacks.

Among the most important urban chronic stressors are traffic noise and artificial light at night. Birds are among the most common vertebrates in modern cities, and we wanted to investigate the behavioural effects on birds exposed to these disturbances, both separately and in combination. We looked at movement, preening (feather cleaning), feeding and rest exhibited by zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) in a laboratory setting.

We found that movement increased in birds exposed to only traffic noise when compared to those exposed to any treatment involving light. Feeding decreased in all treatment groups involving traffic noise, potentially leading to effects such as reduced health and decreased survival rates. Finally, rest increased in both groups involving artificial light at night. Could it be that these birds experienced lower-quality sleep, nodding off during the day much as we would? A resting bird is a less attentive and possibly less resource-gathering bird, and the stiff competition for resources and the presence of predators could ensure that if you snooze, you most definitely lose.

We could show that traffic noise and artificial light at night have different effects on bird behaviour separately and in combination, and this knowledge could be of significance both to future urban ecology research and—ideally—ecological considerations in city planning. After all, we strive to be good neighbours, don’t we?

BSc thesis in biology, 15 hp 2018
Department of Biology, Lund University
Supervisor: Caroline Isaksson
Evolutionary ecology research group (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Svensson, Emil
supervisor
organization
course
BIOK01 20181
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
language
English
id
8962305
date added to LUP
2018-10-24 15:53:10
date last changed
2018-10-24 15:53:10
@misc{8962305,
  author       = {{Svensson, Emil}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Chronic urban stressors and their effect on avian behavior}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}