Non-auditory effects of traffic noise in birds: sleep, metabolic regulation, and cellular senescence

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Our world is noisy and is becoming ever more polluted with noise as urbanization expands across the globe. Noise annoys, but beyond that it has been linked to a worrying range of negative effects on the health and behaviour of humans and also of other animals for which noise is chronically present. Previous research has shown that noise pollution can affect acoustic communication, learning, stress physiology, and cellular ageing. In this project we will investigate links between traffic noise pollution and behavioural physiology as well as reproduction in a series of experiments using birds as a model species. In humans, nocturnal noise exposure seems to have a stronger adverse effect than the equivalent noise exposure during the day. One mechanism that may explain this observation is that noise can disrupt sleep, and that sleep disturbance results in metabolic dysregulation, cardiovascular problems, and cellular senescence. In this study, we will experimentally explore whether traffic noise causes sleep disruption in birds, and in turn, if sleep disruption leads to impaired metabolic regulation, changes in telomere dynamics, and reproductive behaviour or fitness. In addition, we will investigate whether early exposure to traffic noise, or even whether being born to parents that were exposed to noise affects the ability of birds to cope with noise later in life.