Noisy nests: Early-life noise exposure impacts songbird fitness

Abstract

Recent findings indicate that noise pollution – presented in the absence of other variables – has both immediate-term impacts on young birds’ developmental rates and physiology as well as long-term effects on adult telomere length and reproductive success. This work highlights yet another set of negative impacts caused by anthropogenic noise, and suggests that the dramatic fitness consequences observed likely have implications for the evolution of learning and behavior in animals living in noisy environments.