Disturbance by traffic of breeding birds: evaluation of the effect and considerations in planning and managing road corridors

In wildlife considerations in planning and managing road corridors little attention has been given to the effects of disturbance by traffic on populations of breeding birds. Recent studies, however, show evidence of strongly reduced densities of many species of woodland and open habitat in broad zones adjacent to busy roads. The density reduction is related to a reduced habitat quality, and traffic noise is probably the most critical factor. Because density can underestimate the habitat quality, the effects on breeding populations are probably larger than have been established. In consequence, species that did not show an effect on the density might still be affected by traffic noise. On the basis of this recent knowledge, methods have been developed that can be used in spatial planning procedures related to main roads, and in road management practice, and some practical points are discussed. An example of application shows that the effects are probably very important in The Netherlands with a dense network of extremely crowded main roads. For meadow birds, which are of international importance, the decrease in population in the West of The Netherlands may amount to 16%. Because breeding birds suffer from many other environmental influences there is also a great risk of an important cumulation of effects.     

迁徙鸟类对中途停歇地的利用及迁徙对策

中途停歇地是迁徙鸟类在繁殖地和非繁殖地之间的联系枢纽,对于迁徙鸟类完成其完整的生活史过程具有重要作用。从鸟类的迁徙对策、中途停歇地的选择、鸟类在中途停歇地的停留时间、体重变化和种群特征以及中途停歇地的环境状况等方面,回顾了中途停歇生态学在近年来的研究进展,并提出了在迁徙对策理论的实验研究,小型鸟类在中途停歇地的停歇时间及体重变化的准确确定等目前有待解决的问题。     

道路及道路施工对若尔盖高寒湿地小型兽类及鸟类生境利用的影响

为考察道路和道路施工对若尔盖高寒泥炭湿地野生动物的影响,我们在穿过若尔盖湿地的2条道路两侧,对距道路不同距离的小型兽类和鸟类分布进行了调查,其中小型兽类调查深度距离公路800m,鸟类调查深度距离公路400m。施工中的国道213线路两侧黑唇鼠兔(Ochotonacurzoniae)洞穴高密度区域离道路更远,在道路两侧400m处达到峰值,极显著高于距离道路10m处的密度;而在正常运营中的省道209线两侧,其洞穴密度在200m处达到最高值,与其他距离的洞穴密度没有显著性差异。无论在国道213线还是省道209线,道路对高原鼢鼠(Myospalaxbaileyi)洞穴分布的影响均未达到显著性水平。在正常运营的省道209线两侧,高原鼢鼠土堆密度最高区域为距离道路100m处;而施工的道路两侧高原鼢鼠土堆密度最高区域则出现在距离道路10m处,第二高峰出现在距离道路400m处。雀形目和隼形目鸟类的分布均呈现距离道路越远密度越高的趋势,但是只有距离道路400m处雀形目鸟类的密度显著高于50m与200m处;距离道路不同距离的样线中隼形目鸟类密度和物种丰富度没有显著性差异。由此可以看出,施工中的道路对黑唇鼠兔的影响区域比正常运营的道路更宽,其公路效应域达到400m,400m的调查深度对鸟类尤其是隼形目鸟类来说可能还略有不足。但是,根据此深度的调查可以确定施工中的国道213线雀形目和隼形目鸟类的公路效应域宽度大于400m。     

A method to include in lca road traffic noise and its health effects

Background, Aims and Scope  Transport noise represents an environmental problem that is perceived by humans more directly than the usual chemical emissions or resource uses. In spite of this, traditional LCA applications still exclude noise — probably due to the unavailability of an appropriate assessment method. In order to fill the gap, this article presents a study proposing a new computational procedure for the determination of health impairment resulting from noise emissions of road vehicles. Main Features  The magnitude of health impairment due to noise is determined separately for each vehicle class (cars, trucks,..) and is calculated per vehicle-kilometre driven during the day or at nighttime on the Swiss road network. This health impairment is expressed in cases of sleep disturbance or communication disturbance, and furthermore aggregated in DALY (Disability Adjusted Life Years) units representing the number, duration and severity of the health cases. The method is modelling the full cause-effect chain from the noise emissions of a single vehicle up to the health damage. As in some other modern concepts of environmental damage assessment, the analysis is subdivided into the four modules of fate analysis, exposure analysis, effect analysis and damage analysis. The fate analysis yielding the noise level increment due to an additional road transport over a given distance is conducted for transports with known or with unknown routing, the latter case being more important in LCA practice. The current number of persons subject to specific background levels of noise is determined on the basis of the road traffic noise model, LUK, developed by the Swiss canton of Zurich. The number of additional cases of health impairment due to incremental noise is calculated with data out of the Swiss Noise Study 90. An assessment of the severity of sleep disturbance and communication disturbance, in comparison to other types of health impairment, was performed by a panel consisting of physicians experienced in the field of severity weighting of disabilities. Results and Discussion  The quantities of health cases and of DALY units are given per 1′000 truck or car kilometres on Swiss roads, and the range of the confidence interval is estimated. A plausibility check is made by a quantitative comparison of the results with health damage due to traffic accidents in Switzerland, and with health damage due to traffic noise in the Netherlands. Conclusions and Oudook  The method is ready for use in LCA practice. However, the temporary solution for transports outside of Switzerland should be replaced by feeding country specific data into the fate and exposure model. Further, a comparable assessment for rail transport would facilitate decisions on road or rail transport. A decisive element of transport noise assessment is the availability of robust links between noise level and medical conditions. Whilst the number of the corresponding studies is sufficiendy large, a design for better pooling of study results is desirable.     

Calling at the highway: The spatiotemporal constraint of road noise on Pacific chorus frog communication

Loss of acoustic habitat due to anthropogenic noise is a key environmental stressor for vocal amphibian species, a taxonomic group that is experiencing global population declines. The Pacific chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla) is the most common vocal species of the Pacific Northwest and can occupy human‐dominated habitat types, including agricultural and urban wetlands. This species is exposed to anthropogenic noise, which can interfere with vocalizations during the breeding season. We hypothesized that Pacific chorus frogs would alter the spatial and temporal structure of their breeding vocalizations in response to road noise, a widespread anthropogenic stressor. We compared Pacific chorus frog call structure and ambient road noise levels along a gradient of road noise exposures in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA. We used both passive acoustic monitoring and directional recordings to determine source level (i.e., amplitude or volume), dominant frequency (i.e., pitch), call duration, and call rate of individual frogs and to quantify ambient road noise levels. Pacific chorus frogs were unable to change their vocalizations to compensate for road noise. A model of the active space and time (“spatiotemporal communication”) over which a Pacific chorus frog vocalization could be heard revealed that in high‐noise habitats, spatiotemporal communication was drastically reduced for an individual. This may have implications for the reproductive success of this species, which relies on specific call repertoires to portray relative fitness and attract mates. Using the acoustic call parameters defined by this study (frequency, source level, call rate, and call duration), we developed a simplified model of acoustic communication space–time for this species. This model can be used in combination with models that determine the insertion loss for various acoustic barriers to define the impact of anthropogenic noise on the radius of communication in threatened species. Additionally, this model can be applied to other vocal taxonomic groups provided the necessary acoustic parameters are determined, including the frequency parameters and perception thresholds. Reduction in acoustic habitat by anthropogenic noise may emerge as a compounding environmental stressor for an already sensitive taxonomic group.     

Hunting at the highway: traffic noise reduces foraging efficiency in acoustic predators

Noise pollution from human traffic networks and industrial activity impacts vast areas of our planet. While anthropogenic noise effects on animal communication are well documented, we have very limited understanding of noise impact on more complex ecosystem processes, such as predator-prey interactions, albeit urgently needed to devise mitigation measures. Here, we show that traffic noise decreases the foraging efficiency of an acoustic predator, the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis). These bats feed on large, ground-running arthropods that they find by listening to their faint rustling sounds. We measured the bats' foraging performance on a continuous scale of acoustically simulated highway distances in a behavioural experiment, designed to rule out confounding factors such as general noise avoidance. Successful foraging bouts decreased and search time drastically increased with proximity to the highway. At 7.5 m to the road, search time was increased by a factor of five. From this increase, we predict a 25-fold decrease in surveyed ground area and thus in foraging efficiency for a wild bat. As most of the bats' prey are predators themselves, the noise impact on the bats' foraging performance will have complex effects on the food web and ultimately on the ecosystem stability. Similar scenarios apply to other ecologically important and highly protected acoustic predators, e.g. owls. Our study provides the empirical basis for quantitative predictions of anthropogenic noise impacts on ecosystem processes. It highlights that an understanding of the effects of noise emissions and other forms of 'sensory pollution' are crucially important for the assessment of environmental impact of human activities.     

Road exposure and the detectability of birds in field surveys

Road ecology, the study of the impacts of roads and their traffic on wildlife, including birds, is a rapidly growing field, with research showing effects on local avian population densities up to several kilometres from a road. However, in most studies, the effects of roads on the detectability of birds by surveyors are not accounted for. This could be a significant source of error in estimates of the impacts of roads on birds and could also affect other studies of bird populations. Using road density, traffic volume and bird count data from across Great Britain, we assess the relationships between roads and detectability of a range of bird species. Of 51 species analysed, the detectability of 36 was significantly associated with road exposure, in most cases inversely. Across the range of road exposure recorded for each species, the mean positive change in detectability was 52% and the mean negative change was 36%, with the strongest negative associations found in smaller-bodied species and those for which aural cues are more important in detection. These associations between road exposure and detectability could be caused by a reduction in surveyors’ abilities to hear birds or by changes in birds’ behaviour, making them harder or easier to detect. We suggest that future studies of the impacts of roads on populations of birds or other taxa, and other studies using survey data from road-exposed areas, should account for the potential impacts of roads on detectability.     

不同类型绿化带对交通噪声的衰减效果比较

为研究绿化带对交通噪声的衰减效应,在北京市郊国道边或市区内有代表性的绿化带设置30 m宽林带23个,测试不同类型林带对实时交通噪声、模拟交通噪声、白噪声和不同频率噪声(125~8 000 Hz)的降噪值,并分析了季节和距噪声源的距离对各林带降噪效果的影响。结果显示:不同林带的降噪效果有明显差异。对于实时交通噪声,降噪效果最佳的是刺槐(Robinia pseudoacacia)纯林和油松-刺柏(Pinus tabulaeformis-Juniperus formosana)混交林,最弱的是旱柳(Salix matsudana)纯林;对于模拟交通噪声,降噪效果最佳的是刺柏-侧柏(Juniperus formosanaPlatycladus orientalis)混交林和国槐(Sophora japonica)纯林,最弱的是旱柳纯林和加杨(Populus×canadensis)纯林;对于白噪声,油松纯林的降噪效果较好,银杏-圆柏(Ginkgo biloba-Sabina chinensis)混交林降噪效果较差。冬季不同林带对不同噪声的衰减效果总体上小于夏季,其中,针叶混交林、针阔叶混交林或针叶纯林在夏、冬季对实时交通噪声和模拟交通噪声或白噪声的降噪效果接近。10 m宽林带的降噪值随距噪声源距离的变化而差异明显,离噪声源越近降噪效果越好。不同林带对中低频率(2 000 Hz以下)噪声的整体降噪效果优于对高频噪声的降噪效果,其中对500 Hz噪声的降噪值最大,对5 000和8 000 Hz噪声的降噪值最小。为了充分发挥绿化带的降噪功能,根据研究结果,建议在公路绿化带建设中应优先选用针叶混交林或分枝高度较低且分枝多、叶片小而密集的树种;绿化带的宽度至少10 m且应规则种植。     

道路交通噪声对金色中仓鼠焦虑行为及应激生理的影响

人类活动产生的噪声污染对动物和人类的影响正受到日益增多的关注。本文以雄性成年金色中仓鼠为实验动物模型,探讨了北京市主干道交通噪声对其焦虑行为及血象、应激生理的影响。分别以北京主干道噪声（80±10 dB SPL）暴露为实验组,实验室环境噪声（50±4 dB SPL）暴露为对照组,噪声处理动物1小时后进行旷场行为学测试,然后取血对比观测两组鼠血液学指标和应激响应、抗氧化酶活性等生理指标的变化。结果显示道路交通噪声没有导致仓鼠出现明显的焦虑行为;不过,实验组血小板数显著低于对照组(P = 0.044),其他血象指标两组间差异不显著;噪声对血清皮质醇,谷丙、谷草转氨酶影响不显著;实验组的血清谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GSH-Px）活性极显著低于对照组（P < 0.001）,但超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活性、过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性、总抗氧化能力 (TAOC) 和丙二醛（MDA）水平两组间差异不显著;血清溶菌酶活性实验组降低较明显,接近显著水平（P = 0.0507）。我们的结果显示道路交通噪声胁迫导致了金色中仓鼠血象指标发生了变化,这提示北京市主干道交通噪声刺激对金色中仓鼠生理功能产生了一定的副作用。     

道路网络理论在景观破碎化效应研究中的运用——以浙江省公路网络为例

随着道路的不断建设,道路网络对自然生态环境的影响效应日益显著,众多生态学家开始从道路网络与自然景观的空间位置入手,研究不同组织形式的道路网络对自然生态系统产生的不同影响,从而探讨生态最优化的道路网络组织模式.旨在研究浙江省的干线公路网络对自然生态环境造成的影响,从而探讨生态最优化的道路网络组织模式.总结了道路网路理论的最新研究进展,介绍了由R. T. T. Forman和J. A. G. Jaeger提出的两个道路网络影响模型;随后运用Forman教授的道路网络理论分析了浙江省干线公路网络对森林景观的破碎化影响,并运用公路影响阈值分析方法对破坏较为严重的森林景观斑块进行了更为深入的分析,结果表明:国道、省道网络侵占的森林面积较大,对森林生态服务功能的发挥有着较大的影响;高速公路网络则使得森林景观斑块严重降级和破碎,极大地影响着生物多样性的保护.若按照目前的公路规划,到2020年底,由国道、省道和高速公路共同形成的道路网络将对浙江省的森林景观系统造成严重破坏;最后,对浙江省公路网络的布局提出了5点调整建议.     

Pollution going multimodal: the complex impact of the human-altered sensory environment on animal perception and performance

Anthropogenic sensory pollution is affecting ecosystems worldwide. Human actions generate acoustic noise, emanate artificial light and emit chemical substances. All of these pollutants are known to affect animals. Most studies on anthropogenic pollution address the impact of pollutants in unimodal sensory domains. High levels of anthropogenic noise, for example, have been shown to interfere with acoustic signals and cues. However, animals rely on multiple senses, and pollutants often co-occur. Thus, a full ecological assessment of the impact of anthropogenic activities requires a multimodal approach. We describe how sensory pollutants can co-occur and how covariance among pollutants may differ from natural situations. We review how animals combine information that arrives at their sensory systems through different modalities and outline how sensory conditions can interfere with multimodal perception. Finally, we describe how sensory pollutants can affect the perception, behaviour and endocrinology of animals within and across sensory modalities. We conclude that sensory pollution can affect animals in complex ways due to interactions among sensory stimuli, neural processing and behavioural and endocrinal feedback. We call for more empirical data on covariance among sensory conditions, for instance, data on correlated levels in noise and light pollution. Furthermore, we encourage researchers to test animal responses to a full-factorial set of sensory pollutants in the presence or the absence of ecologically important signals and cues. We realize that such approach is often time and energy consuming, but we think this is the only way to fully understand the multimodal impact of sensory pollution on animal performance and perception.     

Further perspectives on the breeding distribution of migratory birds: South American austral migrant flycatchers

1. Patterns of distribution of breeding austral migrant tyrant-flycatchers in temperate South America were quantified and analysed in conjunction with a variety of ecological, biogeographical and climatic variables.
2. The pattern of proportion of migratory to total breeding tyrannids was most strongly associated with latitude and two temperature variables, mean temperature of the coldest month and relative annual range of temperature.
3. The strong associations of latitude and temperature with percentage of migrants are consistent with the results of most similar investigations of the breeding distributions of migratory birds, both for migrants breeding in North America and in Europe, but contradict the hypothesis that habitat complexity plays a major role in structuring the proportion of migrants in communities of breeding birds.
4. The consistency of results among studies of migrants on different continents suggests that temperature and latitude, presumably a surrogate for one or more climatic variables, are globally significant factors in the breeding distributions of migratory birds.
5. The results for austral migrant flycatchers are consistent with the hypothesis that the prevalence of migration at any particular locality is ultimately dependent on the abundance of resources in the breeding season and the severity of the winter season, or on the difference in resource levels between summer and winter.     

An investigation of the effects from a urethral warming system on temperature distributions during cryoablation treatment of the prostate: A phantom study

Introduction of urethral warmers to aid cryosurgery in the prostate has significantly reduced the incidence of urethral sloughing; however, the incidence rate still remains as high as 15%. Furthermore, urethral warmers have been associated with an increase of cancer recurrence rates. Here, we report results from our phantom-based investigation to determine the impact of a urethral warmer on temperature distributions around cryoneedles during cryosurgery. Cryoablation treatments were simulated in a tissue mimicking phantom containing a urethral warming catheter. Four different configurations of cryoneedles relative to urethral warming catheter were investigated. For each configuration, the freeze–thaw cycles were repeated with and without the urethral warming system activated. Temperature histories were recorded at various pre-arranged positions relative to the cryoneedles and urethral warming catheter. In all configurations, the urethral warming system was effective at maintaining sub-lethal temperatures at the simulated surface of the urethra. The warmer action, however, was additionally demonstrated to potentially negatively impact treatment lethality in the target zone by elevating minimal temperatures to sub-lethal levels. In all needle configurations, rates of freezing and thawing were not significantly affected by the use of the urethral warmer. The results indicate that the urethral warming system can protect urethral tissue during cryoablation therapy with cryoneedles placed as close as 5 mm to the surface of the urethra. Using a urethral warming system and placing multiple cryoneedles within 1 cm of each other delivers lethal cooling at least 5 mm from the urethral surface while sparing urethral tissue.     

云南三江并流区六库-片马公路车辆运营对路域鸟类行为的影响

车辆运营对鸟类的影响已经引起了国际上广泛的关注,我国还鲜有相关研究。本文以云南三江并流区穿越云南高黎贡山国家级自然保护区的S316六库-片马公路为研究对象,采用慢速行车结合徒步调查的方法,于2009～2010年研究了交通视觉因素(车色、车型、车速)、交通噪声因素(路肩处与路域100m范围)、鸟类距离因素与鸟类行为反应之间的关系。结果表明,与鸟类行为反应有关系的因子有路肩噪声值(P=0.045,Spearman Correlation R=0.200)、路域100m范围噪声值(P=0.048,Spearman Correlation R=0.319)、车速(P=0.010,Spearman Correlation R=-0.236)、车型(P=0.030,Spearman Correlation R=-0.196)以及鸟类距公路的距离(P=0.027,Spearman Correlation R=-0.254)。为此提出在部分敏感路段应采用禁鸣、减噪路面等措施来减少交通运营对鸟类的影响。     

An experimental investigation into the effects of flooding on the ixodid tick Boophilus microplus (Canestrini)

Summary The effect of water immersion on the non-parasitic stages of Boophilus microplus were investigated both under laboratory and field conditions. Survival of engorged female ticks was influenced by their age and the temperature of the water. Eggs and larvae were more resistant to submerison than were engorged females and their survival was increased at low temperatures and in water with high oxygen content. The persistence of this tick in areas prone to flooding was attributed to the survival of parasitic stages and to larvae on the pasture. Heavy rains produce favourable pasture conditions for tick reproduction so that a large increase in population size may be expected to follow such rain.