Overview
Anthropogenic noise is a pervasive but often overlooked form of habitat degradation. My research investigates how traffic noise and other sensory pollutants affect wildlife behavior, distributions, and fitness. This work has revealed that noise alone—independent of other factors associated with roads and development—can fundamentally alter ecological communities.
The Phantom Road Experiment
To isolate the effects of traffic noise from other road-related impacts, we conducted a novel "phantom road" experiment in Idaho. Using speakers placed along a ridge in roadless wilderness, we broadcast recorded traffic noise during fall bird migration. This experiment demonstrated that noise alone reduced bird abundance by over one-quarter and caused many species to avoid the area entirely. The results, published in PNAS, provided some of the first experimental evidence that traffic noise is an invisible source of habitat degradation.
Continental-Scale Impacts
Building on experimental work, I contributed to a continental-scale analysis examining how sensory pollutants—both noise and light—affect bird phenology and fitness across North America. Published in Nature, this research showed that noise and light pollution alter the timing of breeding and reduce reproductive success in birds across the continent, highlighting the need to address sensory pollution as a significant conservation concern.
Effects on Predator-Prey Dynamics
Noise can interfere with acoustic communication and prey detection, with cascading effects through food webs. Our research has shown that anthropogenic noise impairs owl hunting behavior and alters bat activity patterns, demonstrating how sensory pollution can disrupt predator-prey relationships.
Selected Publications
- Sensory pollutants alter bird phenology and fitness across a continent Nature, 2020
- A phantom road experiment reveals that traffic noise is an invisible source of habitat degradation PNAS, 2015
- An experimental investigation into the effects of traffic noise on distributions of birds: Avoiding the phantom road Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2013
- Anthropogenic noise impairs owl hunting behavior Biological Conservation, 2016
- Noise from a phantom road experiment alters the age structure of a community of migrating birds Animal Conservation, 2016