Traffic Noise Causes Communication Breakdowns
Monday, December 10, 2012 - 12:40
in Biology & Nature
In a perfect world, communicating animals would always be capable of hearing each other's signals and responding appropriately. In the real world, however, the environment is filled with interfering sounds such wind, rainfall, other species' vocalizations, and, increasingly, anthropogenic noise. Under these conditions, lucky animals may be able to respond to a signal when they should, and avoid responding when they shouldn't. However, some individuals might accidentally miss out on hearing an important signal, or react to one that hasn't even been given. read more