Anthropogenic noise is associated with telomere length and carotenoid-based coloration in free-living nestling songbirds

Growing evidence suggests that anthropogenic noise has deleterious effects on the behavior and physiology of free-living animals. These effects may be particularly pronounced early in life, when developmental trajectories are sensitive to stressors, yet studies investigating developmental effects of noise exposure in free-living populations remain scarce. To elucidate the effects of noise exposure during development, we examined whether noise exposure is associated with shorter telomeres, duller carotenoid-based coloration and reduced body mass in nestlings of a common urban bird, the great tit (Parus major). We also assessed how the noise environment is related to reproductive success. We obtained long-term measurements of the noise environment, over a ~24-h period, and characterized both the amplitude (measured by LAeq, LA90, LA10, LAmax) and variance in noise levels, since more stochastic, as well as louder, noise regimes might be more likely to induce stress. In our urban population...

越来越多的证据表明，人为噪声（anthropogenic noise）会对野生自由活动动物的行为与生理机能产生有害影响。这类效应在生命早期或许尤为显著——此时个体的发育轨迹极易受应激源影响，但针对野生种群中噪声暴露的发育效应开展的研究仍较为匮乏。为阐明发育阶段噪声暴露的效应，本研究以一种常见城市鸟类——大山雀（Parus major）的雏鸟为研究对象，探究了噪声暴露是否与更短的端粒（telomeres）、更暗淡的类胡萝卜素依赖型体色（carotenoid-based coloration）以及更低的体质量存在关联。本研究同时评估了噪声环境与繁殖成功率之间的关联。我们在约24小时的周期内获取了噪声环境的长期监测数据，并对噪声水平的幅值（通过LAeq、LA90、LA10、LAmax进行测量）及其变异度进行了表征，因为噪声环境不仅音量越高、随机性越强，越可能诱发应激反应。在我们的城市种群中……