Substrate-borne noise and its impacts on spider behavior

这个项目将研究人类制造的噪音，这里是道路交通，对动物行为的影响。噪音已被证明是动物的一个重要问题，无论是鸟类，鹿，人类还是昆虫和蜘蛛等节肢动物。研究人员将研究道路交通噪音对地球上最常见的动物之一蜘蛛的影响。蜘蛛，作为捕食者，甚至是植物授粉者，在维持健康的生态系统方面发挥着重要作用，几乎没有人知道道路噪音如何影响它们。该项目将探索道路噪音水平与蜘蛛种类、数量以及蜘蛛出现地点的关系。该团队还将与国家公园管理局的科学家合作，开发评估国家公园噪音水平的工具。通过实验室实验，研究人员还将研究噪音影响蜘蛛行为的方式，以及不同群体如何根据他们的沟通方式，可能或可能无法处理道路噪音交通。在过去的几年里，研究表明地球仪上的节肢动物数量迅速下降，这个项目对保护有直接的影响。最后，项目小组将研究如何有效地向公众推广节肢动物保护。噪音在不同的生物类群中有多种有害影响，其中大部分是通过行为介导的。研究人员将研究噪音的影响，特别是基板传播的噪音，对蜘蛛的行为。像绝大多数无脊椎动物一样，蜘蛛使用基底传播的振动来指导诸如交配等行为，并且假设人为噪声干扰这些行为。该项目团队将首先测量无处不在的噪声源，道路交通，以绘制现场空气和基质传播的噪声。接下来，项目团队将对不同物种进行行为研究，这些物种产生声音信号的方式各不相同。项目团队将进行研究，调查（1）噪音如何影响交配行为，（2）调节行为以应对噪音的能力，以及（3）噪音经验如何影响这种能力。假设人为噪声（特别是基质传播的噪声）会对交配产生负面影响，对噪声的反应能力与物种如何产生信号有关，将进行测试。将实地研究和实验室研究相结合，将使研究人员能够测试一种潜在的机制，这种机制导致节肢动物生物多样性的记录损失，以及这种损失对生物多样性的级联效应。除了这些研究目标之外，项目组还将（1）与国家公园管理局的科学家合作，建立评估基质噪声的工具，（2）通过研究不同利益相关者对无脊椎动物的观点，探索促进无脊椎动物保护的策略，以及（3）为K-12名学生使用蜘蛛，旨在教授节肢动物生物学和保护的基本原理。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识产权进行评估，被认为值得支持。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。

This project will study the impact of human created noise, here road traffic, on animal behavior. Noise has been shown to be a significant problem for animals, whether they be birds, deer, humans, or arthropods like insects and spiders. The investigator will examine the effects of road traffic noise on one of the most common animals on earth, spiders. Spiders, as predators and even plant pollinators, play an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems and virtually nothing is known about how road noise affects them. This project will explore how road noise levels relate to which species of spider, how many individuals, and the locations where spiders are found. The team will also work with National Park Service scientists to develop tools to estimate noise levels across national parks. Using laboratory experiments, the investigator will also examine the ways that noise affects spider behavior and how different groups, based on how they communicate, may or may not be able to deal with road noise traffic. In the past few years, studies have shown rapid declines in arthropods across the globe and this project has direct implications to conservation. Finally, the project team will study how to effectively promote arthropod conservation to the general public. Noise has multiple deleterious effects across taxa, much of it mediated through behavior. The investigator will examine the effects of noise, particularly substrate-borne noise, on spider behavior. Like the vast majority of invertebrates, spiders use substrate-borne vibrations to guide behaviors such as mating, and anthropogenic noise is hypothesized to interfere with these behaviors. The project team will first measure a ubiquitous noise source, road traffic, to map air- and substrate-borne noise in the field. Next, the project team will conduct behavioral studies with different species that vary in the ways they produce acoustic signals. The project team will conduct studies investigating (1) how noise impacts mating behavior, (2) the ability to modulate behavior in response to noise, and (3) how experience with noise effects this ability. The hypothesis that anthropogenic noise (particularly substrate-borne noise) will negatively impact mating and that the ability to respond to noise is related to how species produce their signals will be tested. Linking field and laboratory studies will allow the investigator to test one potential mechanism driving the documented losses in arthropod biodiversity and the cascading effects of this on biodiversity. In addition to these research goals, the project team will also (1) collaborate with National Park Service scientists to build tools to estimate substrate-borne noise, (2) explore strategies to promote invertebrate conservation by examining the viewpoints of different stakeholders to invertebrates, and (3) develop outreach and curriculum materials for K-12 students using spiders aimed at teaching fundamental principles in arthropod biology and conservation.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.