DOI: 10.5061/dryad.75nn1932
title: Data from: Noise pollution filters bird communities based on vocal frequency

description: BACKGROUND: Human-generated noise pollution now permeates natural habitats
 worldwide, presenting evolutionarily novel acoustic conditions
 unprecedented to most landscapes. These acoustics are not only harmful to
 humans, but threaten wildlife, and especially birds, via changes to
 species densities, foraging behavior, reproductive success, and
 predator-prey interactions. Explanations for the negative effects of noise
 on birds include the disruption of acoustic communication through
 energetic masking, potentially forcing species that rely upon acoustic
 communication to abandon otherwise suitable areas. However, this
 hypothesis has not been adequately tested because confounding stimuli
 often co-vary with noise and are difficult to separate from noise
 exposure. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a natural experiment that
 controls for confounding stimuli, we evaluate whether species vocal
 features or urban-tolerance classification explain their responses to
 noise measured through habitat use. Two data sets representing nesting and
 abundance responses reveal that noise filters bird communities
 nonrandomly. Signal duration and urban tolerance failed to explain
 species-specific responses, but birds with low-frequency signals that are
 more susceptible to masking from noise avoided noisy areas and birds with
 higher pitched vocalizations remained. Signal frequency was also
 negatively correlated with body mass, suggesting that larger birds may be
 more sensitive to noise due to the link between body size and vocal
 frequency. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings suggest that acoustic
 masking by noise may be a strong selective force shaping the ecology of
 birds worldwide. Larger birds with lower frequency signals may be excluded
 from noisy habitat, whereas smaller species persist via transmission of
 higher pitched signals. We discuss our findings as they relate to
 interspecific relationships among body size, vocal amplitude and frequency
 and suggest that they are immediately relevant to the global problem of
 increases in noise by providing critical insight as to which species
 traits influence tolerance of these novel acoustics.
description: Francis_etal_2011_PLoSONE_dataThis file contains data for 30 bird species. Response variables include two measures of their habitat use in response to chronic noise (i.e., a nesting response and an abundance response). Predictor variables include mass, several vocal features, and urban-tolerance classification. See the accompanying README.csv file for more information.Audio1_Compressor100mSample recording of background noise on a treatment site at a distance of 100 m from the compressor exhaust.Audio2_Control100mSample recording of background noise on a control site at a distance of 100 m from the natural gas wellhead.Audio3_Black-chinnedHummingbirdSample recording of black-chinned hummingbird vocalizations.Audio4_BushtitSample recording of bushtit vocalizations.Audio5_ChippingSparrowSample recording of chipping sparrow vocalizations.Audio6_HouseFinchSample recording of house finch vocalizations.Audio7_Black-headedGrosbeakSample recording of black-headed grosbeak vocalizations.Audio8_WesternTanagerSample recording of western tanager vocalizations.Audio9_MourningDoveSample recording of mourning dove vocalizations.