Acoustic Habitats:Sound Monitoring and Effects on

Wildlife

Jim Cummings cummings@acousticecology.org AcousticEcology.org

AESS Annual Meeting 2009 Environment: The Interdisciplinary Challenge

Acoustic monitoring

Sound budgets

Effects of noise

Future directions

Acoustic monitoringPopulation distribution studiesMany species far easier to hear than to see

Acoustic monitoringWho is present? Seasonal patterns? Annual

changes?

Frog Calls, by Species

Blue Whale Calls Vary

Through Feeding Season

Elk Bugling Week by Week in Fall

Aug to May

Annual variation

Acoustic monitoringStudying baseline behavior patterns

in species of concern

Beaked whalesEspecially sensitive to Navy sonarDive and vocalizing patterns

Acoustic monitoringStudying baseline behavior patterns

in species of concern

ElephantsSocial interactionsLong-range low frequency communicationHabitat use / population distribution

Acoustic monitoringAgencies play key role

NPSInternal

ContractorsVolunteers

NavyFunding academicsInstrumented rangesSOSUS data

NOAAResearch funding, regulatory oversight, international research coordination

Sound BudgetsWhat is the mix of natural and human

sounds?Where/when are various sounds present?

Hear more fromDenise Risch

Sound BudgetsBiophony: A measure of the health of habitat

Hear more fromStuart Gage

Sound BudgetsIdentifying areas where “natural quiet”

remains

Antarctica: increasing cruise ships

Desert parks: overflights, backcountry vehicles

Sound BudgetsIdentifying areas where “natural quiet”

remainsCurrent BC study:Popups recording ambient

sound levels for several months in areas with different

amounts of development, shipping

Sound BudgetsMetrics and Protocols for assessing noise

impactsKey metrics:

Percent Time Audible

Noise-free interval

Protocols:

Observers and/or recordings, noting as

they are audible:

Vehicles

Sources of natural sound:birds, water, wind, rain, etc.

Voices of hikers

Note: Data fro

m 2000,

before snowmobile limits

Hear more fromFrank Turina

Effects of noise on wildlifeIncreasing scientific interest & regulatory

scrutinySome behaviors/species affected at audibility/near ambient

Others seemingly more adaptable/resilient

Effects on terrestrial wildlifeAcoustic impacts on the research/regulatory

agendaInitial intrusions into “natural quiet”

Interference with key behavioror exclusion from territory

Acoustic edge effects

Effects on terrestrial wildlifeMasking: Affects prey and predators

Increasedvigilance

Lost opportunities

Importance of soundsat limits of audibility:

Moderate ambient background noise has measurable impact on

animals’ energy budgets

Can’t hear soft rustling of prey

Work harder to hear predators approach

Effects of ocean noise5-10 yrs ago: physical impacts (injury/death)

Very rare, but dramatic

Sonar strandings spur public outcry and better Navy observation/mitigation procedures

Much legal and research effort on apparent anomalies — yet serves to draw attention to these loud sounds, with deaths being just tip of iceberg

Effects of ocean noisePast 2-3 yrs: awareness of subtler behavioral

effectsFar more common, widespread — larger long-term

impacts

New acoustic tags to record received levelsand how that changes dive profiles

IMO, NMFS, EU address shipping noise

Series of reports on behavioral responses to noise: IWC, DFO, EU, NOAA

Effects of ocean noiseShipping: Decreasing whale communication

rangesGlobal background ambient rising

3-5dB/decade 10x-100x increase since 1950

IMO ship quieting: loudest 10% —> 50-90% of total noise?

NOAA Int’l Workshop/IWC target: 3dB reduction in 10 years

Effects of NoiseKey research questions and challenges

Difficult research issues: data interpretation

No cleardose-responseto noise

120dB: dramatic increase/concentration of fairly significant changesYet also….

150-160dB: responses range 0 to 7 on the severity scale160+dB: severity of response clusters at 0 and 6

This chart compiles all studies of behavioral responses of baleen whales to airguns and sonar

Synergistic effects

Foraging disruptions

Effects of NoiseKey research questions and challenges

Subtle yet high-impact physiological effects

3x-higher energy cost (less energy intake) than energy spent in avoiding noise

Noise-induced stress increases physiological effectsof toxins, nutritional deficits, etc.

Future Directions in Acoustic Monitoring

Freshwater fishDetecting species

Population assessments

Polar BearsLow-frequency construction noise in dens

Future Directions in Acoustic Monitoring

Wind FarmsIdentifying conditions that

lead to clusters of complaints

Topography / Geology

Atmospheric conditions

Setback distances

Future Directions in Acoustic Monitoring

Ocean Gliders

1000-2500 km range

Months on own at sea

Easy, cheap platform for ocean sound budget research

Future Directions in Acoustic Monitoring

Ever cheaper autonomous recording systems

Flash-based recorders: low power, long field operation

Improving automated call recognition algorithms

Can add valuable acoustic perspective in many types of restoration projects, habitat studies

Thanks! NPS

NOAAWCPRWWAONCOCRUSNAEUBWFAEDFO

WDCSNRDCAESS

Listen close,the sound gets better

Gary Snyder, Mountains and Rivers Without End

Jew's/Judas/jelly earAuricularia auricula-judae