HE Xuan,YANG Xiaojing,XIANG Jia,LIU Yuan,KURMANBEK Bibi Alima

• 1:School of Environmental Studies
• 2: China University of Geosciences

摘要(Abstract)：

Acoustic communication is a widespread and evolutionarily ancient mode of information exchange in animals,playing a central role in key life activities such as species recognition, individual identification,courtship,territorial defense,and social coordination.Noise disturbance degrades natural acoustic environments and can interfere with avian acoustic communication.However,field studies on how noise specifically affects signal receivers ' ability to detect and recognize conspecific vocalizations remain limited.This study used a field playback experiment to investigate the influence of noise interference on the territorial defense of light-vented bulbuls(Pycnonotus sinensis) facing simulated conspecific intruders.Playback trials were conducted in 39 light-vented bulbul territories during the breeding season(May-July) of 2025 in Wuhan,Hubei Province.Three treatment groups were established:a control group(playback without noise interference,n=12),a low-level noise interference group(playback signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),R_(SN)=12 dB;n=15),and a high-level noise interference group(playback R_(SN)=0 dB;n=12).Territorial defense behavioral metrics were recorded and compared among groups.The results show that different levels of noise interference affected light-vented bulbuls ' territorial behavior differentially.Compared with the control group,high-level noise significantly weakened the light-vented bulbuls' behavioral responses(P <0.01),manifesting as a reduction in the number of flights and a greater minimum distance to the speaker.Low-level noise produced no significant effect(P> 0.05),and no significant difference was found between the high-and low-level noise groups(P> 0.05) either.These findings indicate that noise interfe rence can impair the reception and recognition of intrusion signals in light-vented bulbuls,with significant behavioral consequences observed under high-level broadband noise masking.This field experiment confirms that noise disturbance weakens territorial defense against conspecific intruders,providing evidence from the receiver's perspective for understanding how noise disrupts avian communication.This study offers new evidence for assessing the survival pressures imposed by anthropogenic noise on bird species such as light-vented bulbuls and for formulating effective acoustic environmental protection strategies.

关键词(KeyWords)：

Abstract:

Keywords:

基金项目(Foundation): supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31000964)

作者(Author): HE Xuan,YANG Xiaojing,XIANG Jia,LIU Yuan,KURMANBEK Bibi Alima

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