CAREER: Towards a complete picture of communication in anthropogenic noise - Auditory processing among urban and rural soundscapes.

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。在过去的几十年里，人类活动产生的噪音急剧增加，被认为是污染的主要来源。高水平的噪音会对动物产生负面影响，尤其是那些用声音交流的动物。一些研究已经调查了人为产生的噪音是如何损害对声音交流信号的识别的。有趣的是，一些研究表明，生活在城市中的动物产生的信号发生了变化，这有助于它们应对噪音的负面影响。听觉是否会因人类产生的噪音而改变，以及如何改变，目前尚不清楚。研究太平洋合唱蛙的标志性“丝带”，这个项目正是在探索这一点。我们将比较生活在旧金山湾区城市和农村地区的青蛙的叫声和听觉能力。我们还将研究这种叫声和听觉能力的变化是否能让动物在嘈杂的环境中更容易沟通。此外，我们将探讨城市和农村人口的听力变化是否与耳结构的变化有关。这些研究活动将辅以教育活动，包括对不同学生群体进行研究培训和在当地社区开展科学教育。由于这个项目将进一步加深我们对噪音污染对感官知觉和行为的影响的理解，我们的研究结果可以为保护和城市化工作提供信息，并促进与人类互动的通信设备设计的进步。过去几十年来，人为噪音急剧增加，成为一种主要的污染形式。因此，人们对理解人为噪音对动物行为的影响越来越感兴趣。对于通过声音进行交流的动物来说，人为噪音会损害它们对声音信号的探测和识别。一些研究已经调查了声音信号和信号行为如何改变，以尽量减少人为噪音的有害影响。相比之下，我们不知道城市动物的听觉能力是否也会发生变化，以更好地应对高水平的噪音。这个项目的中心假设是，在自然和人为噪音水平不同的人群中，听觉系统在促进信号接收的方式上有所不同。我们将使用来自低水平和高水平自然和人为噪音种群的太平洋合唱蛙（Hyliola regilla）来验证这一假设。具体来说，我们将(i)表征不同噪音水平下种群的声环境（音景）和声音信号，（ii）确定听觉处理能力在不同声景之间的差异，（iii）确定发声和听力能力的这种变化与声音介导的交配行为之间的关系，以及（iv）研究听觉处理能力在种群水平上变化的解剖学机制。通过结合听觉处理的行为、生理和解剖学研究，该项目将进一步加深我们对新环境如何塑造感觉、感知和动物交流系统的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Noise generated by human activity has increased dramatically over the past decades and is considered a major source of pollution. High levels of noise can have negative effects on animals, particularly those that communicate with sounds. Several studies have investigated how human-generated noise can impair the recognition of vocal communication signals. Interestingly, some studies have shown changes in signals produced by animals that live in cities that help them cope with the negative effects of noise. Whether and how the sense of hearing can change in response to human-generated noise is not known. Studying the iconic ‘ribbit’ of Pacific chorus frogs, this project explores precisely this. We will compare the calls and the hearing abilities of frogs that live in urban and rural regions across the San Francisco Bay Area. We will also study whether such changes in calls and hearing abilities allow animals to communicate easier in noisy environments. Further, we will explore whether changes in hearing among urban and rural populations are related to changes in the structure of the ear. These research activities will be complemented by educational activities, including research training of diverse student populations and science education outreach in local communities. As this project will further our understanding of the consequences of noise pollution for sensory perception and behavior, our results can inform conservation and urbanization efforts and promote progress in the design of communication devices that interact with humans.Anthropogenic noise has dramatically increased over the past decades, becoming a major form of pollution. Accordingly, there is growing interest in understanding the effects of anthropogenic noise on animal behavior. For animals that communicate acoustically, anthropogenic noise can impair the detection and recognition of vocal signals. Several studies have investigated how vocal signals and signaling behaviors change to minimize the detrimental effects of anthropogenic noise. In contrast, we do not know whether the hearing capabilities of urban animals also change to better cope with high levels of noise. The central hypothesis of this project is that, among populations with different levels of natural and anthropogenic noise, the auditory system varies in ways that facilitate signal reception. We will test this hypothesis using Pacific chorus frogs (Hyliola regilla) from populations with low and high levels of natural and anthropogenic noise. Specifically, we will (i) characterize the acoustic environment (soundscape) and vocal signals of populations with different levels of noise, (ii) determine how auditory processing abilities vary among soundscapes, (iii) determine how such variation in vocalizations and hearing abilities relate to acoustically-mediated mating behavior, and (iv) examine anatomical mechanisms underlying population-level variation in auditory processing abilities. By combining behavioral, physiological, and anatomical studies of auditory processing, this project will further our understanding of how novel environments shape sensation, perception, and animal communication systems in general.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.