Presentation Details
| Echoes of a Pandemic: Soundscape Perturbations and the Cultural Evolution of Bird Song Elizabeth P Derryberry1, Graham E Derryberry1, Ruth A Simberloff1, Amy Luo1, David Luther2, Michael J Blum1, Jennifer N Phillips3. 1University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.2George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.3Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA |
Abstract
Anthropogenic change is reshaping acoustic environments at unprecedented rates, altering constraints on vocal communication. The COVID-19 Anthropause created a rare reduction in human noise, providing a quasi-experimental opportunity to examine how culturally transmitted signals respond when constraints are relaxed. During the Spring 2020 shutdown in the San Francisco Bay Area, urban songbirds rapidly shifted song structure, producing lower-amplitude, broader-bandwidth songs that enhanced transmission in quieter conditions. As noise returned, responses were not fully parallel: some traits reverted, whereas others persisted. Across sites differing in post-shutdown noise recovery, the pace and extent of change tracked local soundscape trajectories. These results show that rapid behavioral flexibility does not guarantee uniform population responses and underscore the need to link environmental change with mechanisms of learning to predict how vocal traditions respond to human-altered landscapes.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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