DOI: 10.5061/dryad.wwpzgmswk
title: Data and code from: At the intersection of soundscapes and roads: Quantifying anthrophony’s influence on wildlife crossing structure use

description: Anthropogenic noise (anthrophony) can have significant negative effects on
 wildlife, causing both physiological (i.e., increased stress hormone
 production) and behavioral (i.e., altered anti-predator behaviors, space
 use, or diel activity) changes in individuals. Roads are a major source of
 anthrophony, often contributing the most to the anthrophony in rural
 areas. Most efforts to reduce road effects on wildlife have focused on
 decreasing road-associated mortality through the construction of wildlife
 crossing structures (WCSs) with little consideration for the anthrophony
 associated with these structures. Given the impacts of anthrophony on
 wildlife behavior, the effectiveness of WCSs could be altered without
 consideration towards noise pollution. Therefore, understanding how
 anthrophony is structured in space and time and how it impacts WCS use is
 an important aspect of assessing effectiveness of WCSs. We developed a
 framework for assessing anthrophony at WCS using an array of autonomous
 recording units to monitor overall acoustic conditions. We then examined
 how wildlife crossing rates were associated with anthrophony using camera
 traps. We monitored five underpass-style WCSs built in the Lower Rio
 Grande Valley of South Texas, USA using camera traps and acoustic
 recording units. We measured sound pressure level (SPL [dB]) and relative
 level of anthrophony (using the normalized difference soundscape index
 [NDSI]) at six positions around each WCS: two at elevation (road grade)
 with the road surface (west and east), two at the WCS entrances, and two
 in the middle of the WCSs. We then used SPL and NDSI to predict the
 probability of a successful crossing by Virginia opossum (Didelphis
 virginiana), a common, disturbance-tolerant mammal. While the relative
 amount of anthrophony did not differ, smaller WCSs and those with less
 traffic were up to 40 dB quieter than larger WCSs and those with more
 traffic. Opossums spent more time at WCSs when it was quieter on average
 and were more likely to successfully cross through a WCS when there was
 less vehicle noise. Our study highlights the importance of considering
 soundscapes in assessing WCS effectiveness and represents a framework that
 can be used for further exploration of the impacts of anthrophony on WCS
 use.
description: This README.txt file was generated on 2025-03-21 by Thomas J. Yamashita
 GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title of Dataset: At the intersection of
 soundscapes and roads: quantifying anthrophony’s influence on wildlife
 crossing structure use This data is associated with the manuscript, titled
 At the intersection of soundscapes and roads: quantifying anthrophony’s
 influence on wildlife crossing structure use, available here:
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wwpzgmswk](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wwpzgmswk) 2. Author Information Thomas J. Yamashita Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University - Kingsville [tjyamashta@gmail.com](mailto:tjyamashta@gmail.com) Corresponding Author Ashley M. Tanner Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University - Kingsville Evan P. Tanner Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University - Kingsville Daniel G. Scognamillo Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University - Kingsville Michael E. Tewes Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University - Kingsville John H. Young Jr. Environmental Affairs Division, Texas Department of Transportation Jason V. Lombardi Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University - Kingsville 3. Date of Data Collection August 2023 - October 2023; March 2024 - April 2024 4. Geographic location of data collection: wildlife crossing structures located along FM 1847 in Cameron County, Texas, USA 5. Funding Sources: Texas Department of Transportation DATA & FILE OVERVIEW 1. File List 1A_20230927_190000-1.wav: Raw recording for an audiomoth at WCS1, position A. 1B_20230927_190000-1.wav: Raw recording for an audiomoth at WCS1, position B. 1C_20230927_190000-1.wav: Raw recording for an audiomoth at WCS1, position C. aru_envdata.xlsx: File containing information about experimental units and vegetation data for each site. audiomoth_kestrel_20240709.csv: Temperature and humidity data associated with the audiomoths. audiomoth_out_update_20240726.csv: NDSI and Sound Pressure Level from the audiomoths. solarbar_kestrel_20240709.csv: Temperature and humidity data associated with the Solar BARs. solarbar_out_update_20240726.csv: NDSI and Sound Pressure Level from the Solar BARs. SoundRoads_repository.R: R script with code used in the analyses. 2. Relationship between files: Device names are consistent across files for each device and are labelled either device or site. See the manuscript and R code for details of how individual devices correspond to each other. Contact Thomas Yamashita with questions (email above). 3. Files not included in this repository. Camera trap data from this study because it is a part of a longer term study that contains information on sensitive species (e.g., ocelots). This data is available upon request. Please contact Thomas Yamashita. Raw audio recordings from most of the study duration are not provided due to file size considerations (~ 4TB of data). This data is available upon request. Please contact Thomas Yamashita. METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION 1. Description of the methods used for collection/generation and processing of data: Methodology for collection and processing of the data can be found in the manuscript 2. Quality Assurance Procedures: Photographs were processed by trained personnel and went through multiple rounds of checks to ensure accurate detection of all animals. Some audio recordings were listened to to ensure that acoustic indices aligned with expected vehicle noise. 3. People involved with data collection, processing, and analysis: Thomas J. Yamashita (data collection, data processing, data analysis) DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: 1A_20230927_190000-1.wav 1. Data Type: .wav audio file 2. Other Information: This is an example of the raw audio file used to calculate acoustic indices. DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: 1B_20230927_190000-1.wav 1. Data Type: .wav audio file 2. Other Information: This is an example of the raw audio file used to calculate acoustic indices. DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: 1C_20230927_190000-1.wav 1. Data Type: .wav audio file 2. Other Information: This is an example of the raw audio file used to calculate acoustic indices. DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: aru_envdata.xlsx 1. Data Type: Microsoft excel xlsx file 2. Number of Tabs: 2 3. Number of Variables: 5, 4 4. Number of Rows: 30, 5 5. Variable List: device: Name of audiomoth device Station: Wildlife crossing side of highway Site: Wildlife crossing number side: Position of the device name: Unique identify of side and position audiomoth_out_update_20240726.csv: NDSI and Sound Pressure Level from the audiomoths. solarbar_kestrel_20240709.csv: Temperature and humidity data associated with the Solar BARs. solarbar_out_update_20240726.csv: NDSI and Sound Pressure Level from the Solar BARs. SoundRoads_repository.R DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: audiomoth_kestrel_20240709.csv 1. Data Type: Comma delimitated text file 2. Number of Variables: 7 3. Number of Rows: 188,293 4. Variable List: Date.Time: Date-time of the log Temperature: Temperature in units degrees C Relative.Humidity: Relative humidity in units % Heat.Index: Heat index Dew.Point: Dew point data.type: Point recording name: name of the kestrel device DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: audiomoth_out_update_20240726.csv 1. Data Type: Comma delimitated text file 2. Number of Variables: 12 3. Number of Rows: &gt; 1,000,000 4. Variable List: sound.files: Sound file name org.sound.files: Original sound file start: Relative start point of the subsetted recording end: Relative end point of the subsetted recording duration: Duration of the recording (seconds) site: device name dt_start: Start time of the recording dt_end: End time of the recording ndsi: NDSI calculation for a recording, based on biophony and anthrophony biophony: Biophony level for a recording anthrophony: Anthrophony level for a recording SPL: Sound pressure level for a recording DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: solarbar_kestrel_20240709.csv 1. Data Type: Comma delimitated text file 2. Number of Variables: 7 3. Number of Rows: 30,251 4. Variable List: Date.Time: Date-time of the log Temperature: Temperature in units degrees C Relative.Humidity: Relative humidity in units % Heat.Index: Heat index Dew.Point: Dew point data.type: Point recording name: name of the kestrel device DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: solarbar_out_update_20240726.csv 1. Data Type: Comma delimitated text file 2. Number of Variables: 12 3. Number of Rows: 266,396 4. Variable List: sound.files: Sound file name org.sound.files: Original sound file start: Relative start point of the subsetted recording end: Relative end point of the subsetted recording duration: Duration of the recording (seconds) site: device name dt_start: Start time of the recording dt_end: End time of the recording ndsi: NDSI calculation for a recording, based on biophony and anthrophony biophony: Biophony level for a recording anthrophony: Anthrophony level for a recording SPL: Sound pressure level for a recording DATA SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: SoundRoads_repository.R 1. Data Type: R script 2. Other Information: This script provides code for conducting all R-based analyses used in this manuscript. This code will not run properly without the camera data or acoustic data which is not provided in this repository. Camera data and acoustic data are available upon request from Thomas Yamashita.