Raw data from: Airport noise disturbs foraging behavior of Japanese pipistrelle bats

The expansion of anthropogenic noise poses an emerging threat
to the survival and reproductive success of various
organisms. Previous investigations have focused on the detrimental effects
of anthropogenic noise on the foraging behavior in some terrestrial and
aquatic animals. Nevertheless, the role of airport noise in impairing
foraging activities of most wild animals has been neglected. Here, we
aimed to assess whether foraging behavior in free-living Japanese
pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus abramus) can be disturbed by airport noise.
We used audio recording to monitor foraging activities
of bats at 11 sites around the runway of a municipal airport. We
quantified noise level and spectra, aircraft activity, habitat type,
nightly temperature, wind speed, and moon phase for each site. The
analysis revealed that noise level and aircraft activity were significant
negative predictors for the number of bat passes and feeding buzzes around
the runway, even after controlling for the effects of other environmental
factors. There was no marked spectral overlap between bat echolocation
pulses and airport noise in the presence and absence of low-flying
aircraft. The spectro-temporal parameters of echolocation vocalizations
emitted by bats were dependent on noise level, aircraft activity, and
habitat type. These results provide correlative evidence that airport
noise can reduce foraging activities of wild pipistrelle bats. Our
findings add to the current knowledge of adverse impacts of airport noise
on foraging bats in artificial ecosystems and provide a basis for further
research on the mechanisms behind noise pollution near airports.

人为噪声的扩张对多种生物的生存及繁殖成功构成了新兴威胁。以往研究多聚焦于人为噪声对部分陆生及水生动物觅食行为的有害影响。然而，机场噪声对多数野生动物觅食活动的损害作用却被忽视。本研究旨在评估自由生活的日本伏翼蝠（Pipistrellus abramus）的觅食行为是否会受到机场噪声的干扰。我们通过音频记录监测了某市政机场跑道周边11个位点的蝙蝠觅食活动，并量化了每个位点的噪声水平及频谱、飞机活动、栖息地类型、夜间温度、风速和月相。分析表明，即使控制了其他环境因素的影响，噪声水平和飞机活动仍是跑道周边蝙蝠飞过次数及觅食嗡鸣次数的显著负向预测因子。无论是否存在低空飞行的飞机，蝙蝠回声定位脉冲与机场噪声之间均无明显的频谱重叠。蝙蝠发出的回声定位发声的频谱-时间参数依赖于噪声水平、飞机活动及栖息地类型。这些结果提供了相关性证据，表明机场噪声可降低野生伏翼蝠的觅食活动。我们的发现补充了当前关于机场噪声对人工生态系统中觅食蝙蝠不利影响的认知，并为进一步研究机场周边噪声污染背后的机制提供了基础。