What is it about?

Playback experiments were used to determine whether exposure to road traffic noise altered the activity, feeding and vigilance of wild prairie dogs. Road noise was recorded along Interstate 25 and played back at authentic sound levels (77 dBA @ 10m) for 1 hour treatment periods. These treatment periods were paired with 1 hour control periods (no noise exposure). Behavioural scans confirmed that in the presence of noise, aboveground activity and feeding declined, while vigilance increased.

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Why is it important?

Our paper provides the first experimental evidence that road traffic noise alters the behaviour of a free-ranging mammal. These findings highlight that the presence of animals in a location is no guarantee of population and ecological integrity. Furthermore, prairie dogs are generally considered relatively tolerant of non-lethal disturbance, but our study demonstrates a clear behavioural shift. Our results therefore have implications for this keystone species and more risk sensitive taxa.

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This page is a summary of: Road traffic noise modifies behaviour of a keystone species, Animal Behaviour, August 2014, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.06.004.
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