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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Noisy neighbours: effects of construction noises on nesting seabirds

Larissa Iasiello A and Diane Colombelli-Négrel https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9572-1120 A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.


Handling Editor: Nicholas Davidson

Marine and Freshwater Research 74(7) 573-585 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF22138
Submitted: 14 July 2022  Accepted: 21 March 2023   Published: 20 April 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context: Seabirds are important bio-indicators that play an important role in nutrient cycling within coastal communities. Yet, the impact of anthropogenic noises produced from coastal developments across seabird species has received little attention. To create more refined and effective mitigation strategies, a better understanding of how different seabird species and individuals respond to anthropogenic noise is required.

Aims: This study aimed to assess how individual seabirds respond to noises resulting from coastal development (construction noises).

Methods: We investigated the behavioural (vigilance, distress) and physiological (heart rate) responses of little penguins (Eudyptula minor) to experimental playback of construction noises and the potential impacts of construction noises on breeding success.

Key results: Little penguins spent significantly more time in vigilance (but showed no increase in heart rate) during the construction noise playback than they did during the control. Nests exposed to the noise experiment were more likely to produce at least one fledgling compared with those that were not.

Conclusions and implications: Our results support the distracted prey hypothesis, which over long periods may reduce the time individuals spend performing biologically important behaviours and increase predation risk.

Keywords: coastal management, declining populations, noise pollution, Phalacrocorax fuscescens, seabirds, sensory disturbance, stress response, Thalasseus bergii.


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