Hi all,
I want to draw your intention to a recent article in Biological
Conservation:
Paola Laiolo (2010): "The emerging significance of bioacoustics in
animal species conservation", Biol. Conserv., pp. 1-11.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.03.025
Abstract:
This review reports on the effects of human activities on animal
acoustic signals published in the literature from 1970 to 2009. Almost
5% of the studies on variation in animal communication tested or
hypothesised on human impacts, and showed that habitat fragmentation,
direct human disturbance, introduced diseases, urbanization, hunting,
chemical and noise pollution may challenge animal acoustic behaviour.
Although acoustic adaptations to anthropogenic habitats have been
documented, human impacts have most often generated neutral variation or
potential maladaptive responses. Negative impacts have been postulated
in the sexual signals of fishes, amphibians, birds, and mammals; these
are concerning as any maladaptive alteration of sexual behaviour may
have direct bearings on breeding success and ultimately population
growth rate. Acoustic communication also facilitates other vital
behaviours influenced by human-driven perturbations. Bat and cetacean
echolocation, for instance, is disrupted by noise pollution, whereas
bird and mammal alarming is also affected by introduced diseases and
hunting. Mammal social signals are sensitive to noise pollution and
hunting, and birds selecting habitats by means of acoustic cues are
especially vulnerable to habitat loss. Anthropogenic intervention in
these cases may have a negative impact on individual survival,
recruitment and group cohesion, limiting rescue-effects and triggering
Allee effects. Published evidence shows that acoustic variation may be
used as an early-warning indicator of perturbations even when not
directly affecting individual fitness. Acoustic signalling can be
studied in a broad range of ecosystems, can be recorded, analyzed,
synthesised and played back with relative ease and limited economic
budget, and is sensitive to many types of impacts, thus can have great
conservation significance.
Cheers
Holger
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Holger Klinck, Ph.D.
Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies
Oregon State University&
NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Hatfield Marine Science Center
2030 Marine Science Drive
Newport, OR 97365
Phone: (+1)541-867-0182
Fax: (+1)541-867-3907
Web: http://oregonstate.edu/groups/cimrs/
