School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK.
Microwave Integrated Systems Laboratory, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 26;13(1):12085. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-39223-1.
Fireworks and other pyrotechnics are acknowledged as sources of disturbance to wildlife, with evidence that many species react adversely to their sight and sound at discharge. However, how firework releases impact wildlife within a city landscape is poorly understood. Here, we explore the effect of fireworks on urban birds using an L-band staring radar (90-degree sector out to a 5 km range) to capture bird activity derived from flight tracks (i.e. 3D visualisation of individual flying birds built from radar detections) within the city of Birmingham, UK. Comparing the tracks between baseline periods with no fireworks and periods where fireworks are commonly discharged using a null model indicated that birds flew at higher elevations during firework periods (standardised effect sizes of 17.11, 26.54 and 5.83, for Diwali, Bonfire Night, and New Year's Eve, respectively). Birds also flew in more significant numbers (standardised effect sizes of 23.41, 7.98 and 7.19 for Diwali, Bonfire Night, and New Year's Eve, respectively). Therefore, bird activity was elevated during firework events at a time of night when many would otherwise be roosting. Such disturbance may have implications for avian biology since large public firework events occur at colder times of the year in the UK when birds have elevated thermoregulatory costs.
烟花和其他烟火被认为是干扰野生动物的来源，有证据表明，许多物种对其发光和发声反应不佳。然而，烟花在城市景观中对野生动物的影响还知之甚少。在这里，我们使用 L 波段凝视雷达（90 度扇区，范围可达 5 公里）来探测鸟类的活动，利用雷达探测到的飞行轨迹（即通过雷达检测构建的单个飞鸟的 3D 可视化）来探索烟花对英国伯明翰市鸟类的影响。将无烟花基准期和常见烟花释放期的轨迹进行比较，使用零模型表明鸟类在烟花期间飞得更高（排灯节、篝火之夜和新年前夜的标准化效应大小分别为 17.11、26.54 和 5.83）。鸟类的飞行数量也更多（排灯节、篝火之夜和新年前夜的标准化效应大小分别为 23.41、7.98 和 7.19）。因此，鸟类在夜间原本会栖息的时候，活动在烟花事件期间增加。由于在英国，大型公共烟花活动发生在一年中较冷的时候，鸟类的体温调节成本增加，因此这种干扰可能对鸟类生物学产生影响。
