Bioacoustic dataset assessing the impact of festival music on bat activity

Sound is a critical component of an animal’s habitat, where it is used to
glean important environmental information from their surroundings. The
modification of natural soundscapes due to the global rise in
anthropogenic noise pollution over recent decades can have serious
negative impacts on species fitness and survival. Nocturnal species such
as bats are reliant on sound for many aspects of their life history and
are therefore highly sensitive to anthropogenic noise. Music festivals are
a source of unregulated and potentially harmful, acute noise pollution
however they have become ubiquitous across our landscapes throughout the
summer months and are increasingly being held in settings important for
wildlife. Using an experimental approach, we provide the first evidence of
negative impacts of music festivals on bat activity in a habitat that
represents a typical festival setting i.e. woodland edge. We found that
loud music playback alone can reduce the activity of bats even in the
absence of other anthropogenic factors commonly associated with music
festivals such as lighting and habitat disturbance.  Activity of
Nyctalus/Eptesicus spp. was reduced along woodland edge habitats exposed
to loud music whereas no effect was recorded for Myotis spp., P. pygmaeus
and P. pipistrellus compared to quiet nights. We also provide the first
evidence of the spatial scale of negative effects from festival music on
activity for P.pygmaeus as well as highlighting differential responses
between cryptic species. In light of the paucity of research or guidance
into acute noise impacts on nocturnal biodiversity, we outline the
potential negative impacts of music festivals for bats. We show that music
alone can reduce the activity of bats even in the absence of other
anthropogenic factors commonly associated with music festivals which could
potentially fragment important habitats for certain species, leading to a
degradation of functional connectivity across the landscape.