Effect of acoustic pollution on urban bird diversity and abundance in centre of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain)

Abstract

Abstract In an increasingly urbanized world, biodiversity, and more specifically avifauna localised in urbanized ecosystems face several threats. Among them, acoustic pollution has proven to be one of the most important, as it affects the effectiveness and efficiency of acoustic communication. Especially sensitive species are even disappearing due to noise masking. We have studied the effect that noise has on bird distribution in areas with differing levels of urbanization in the central region of the Iberian Peninsula. We analysed how richness, frequency and abundance of species varied along three acoustic pollution levels (high, middle and low). Richness decreased in areas with high acoustic pollution. We identified less sensitive to noise species, which showed no changes in frequency and abundance between environments (such as the house sparrow, the white wagtail and the European robin) or that even increased its abundance in environments with high levels of noise (such as the blackbird, the Eurasian tree sparrow and the coal tit). The more sensitive ones, such as the common linnet, the mistle thrush and the European greenfinch, decreased their distribution when noise increased. Identifying the sensitivity (how it is affected) of urban bird species to acoustic pollution is vital for effective conservation management measures and for the sustainable planning and management of cities.