Fuller Richard A, Warren Philip H, Gaston Kevin J
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
Biol Lett. 2007 Aug 22;3(4):368-70. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0134.
Ambient noise interferes with the propagation of acoustic signals through the environment from sender to receiver. Over the past few centuries, urbanization and the development of busy transport networks have led to dramatic increases in the levels of ambient noise with which animal acoustic communications must compete. Here we show that urban European robins Erithacus rubecula, highly territorial birds reliant on vocal communication, reduce acoustic interference by singing during the night in areas that are noisy during the day. The effect of ambient light pollution, to which nocturnal singing in urban birds is frequently attributed, is much weaker than that of daytime noise.
环境噪声会干扰声学信号在环境中从发送者到接收者的传播。在过去几个世纪里，城市化以及繁忙交通网络的发展导致环境噪声水平急剧上升，动物的声学通讯必须在这样的噪声环境中进行竞争。我们在此表明，城市中的欧洲知更鸟（欧亚鸲），这种高度领地化且依赖声音通讯的鸟类，会在白天嘈杂的区域选择夜间鸣叫，以减少声学干扰。通常认为城市鸟类夜间鸣叫是受环境光污染的影响，但这种影响远不及白天噪声的影响大。
