IntBIO: Collaborative Research: Phenotypes of the Anthropocene: integrating the consequences of sensory stressors across biological scales

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Animal responses to environmental stressors ultimately influence survival and reproduction, and some animals are better prepared to face challenges than others. This research examines physiological and behavioral responses to sensory pollution caused by human activities to predict population vulnerability across different species. The project will explicitly link the effects of light and noise pollution on avian physiology, behavior, and reproductive success in a landscape where these stimuli are isolated from other urban features. The interdisciplinary research team includes experts in physiology, behavior, and ecology who will quantitatively evaluate connections between the individual and population, advancing our knowledge of the effects of human activity on nature across multiple fields. The team embodies the IntBIO program mission by incorporating different sub-disciplines and levels of biological organization using a holistic, integrated approach. The research is the first to rigorously evaluate and link physiological, behavioral, and fitness responses to sensory pollution, and does so across several species and multiple sensory stressors for greater generalizability. The project aims to (i) reveal whether noise and light pollution consistently select for a similar phenotype across six bird species; (ii) identify generalizable relationships between physiological, behavioral, and ecological responses, if they exist, and, if not, (iii) unveil key differences among species that underlie sensitivity to these widespread forms of global change. In doing so, the project will build a testable framework for generalizing avian response to human-caused sensory pollution, which can be used to predict whether species will fail or thrive in an increasingly bright and noisy human-dominated world. Project impacts have important societal benefits to conservation and education, with efforts spanning (a) culturally responsive training of underrepresented minorities in STEM to become integrated, early-career biologists, (b) developing and disseminating outreach materials via hands-on outreach events and presentations across large networks, and (c) informing policy through collaboration with the National Park Service and the International Dark-Sky Association.This project addresses three integrative questions that require expertise from different sub-disciplines to answer: 1) Do sensory stressors shape a generalizable phenotype? 2) Do phenotypes of behavior and physiology affect ultimate outcomes of fitness? and 3) How do combined multi-sensory stressors affect organisms across biological scales? Across gradients and combinations of light and noise, at the proximate level the team will measure (a) physiology (e.g., glucocorticoids, melatonin, testosterone, hormone receptors, clock genes), and (b) behaviors of nesting birds (e.g., aggression, boldness, song structure, settlement, movement). At the ultimate level, they will monitor (c) fitness outcomes via offspring success (e.g., clutch size, fledgling survival) to measure singular and combined consequences of light and noise pollution. The researchers will focus on six songbirds that vary in life history traits and anthropogenic tolerance, increasing our understanding beyond single-species approaches. Importantly, the direct and indirect links among responses will be analyzed using structural equation models, facilitating integration to reveal whether proximate and ultimate relationships are generalizable across species.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.