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. 2019 Jun;26(17):17284-17291.
doi: 10.1007/s11356-019-05063-8. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

Nocturnal noise and habitat homogeneity limit species richness of owls in an urban environment

Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Forest Biodiversity, Institute of Forest Ecology and Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture, al. 29 Listopada 46, 31-425, Kraków, Poland.
  • 2 Department of Forest Biodiversity, Institute of Forest Ecology and Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture, al. 29 Listopada 46, 31-425, Kraków, Poland. michal.ciach@ur.krakow.pl.

Nocturnal noise and habitat homogeneity limit species richness of owls in an urban environment

Arkadiusz Fröhlich et al. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2019 Jun.
. 2019 Jun;26(17):17284-17291.
doi: 10.1007/s11356-019-05063-8. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Forest Biodiversity, Institute of Forest Ecology and Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture, al. 29 Listopada 46, 31-425, Kraków, Poland.
  • 2 Department of Forest Biodiversity, Institute of Forest Ecology and Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture, al. 29 Listopada 46, 31-425, Kraków, Poland. michal.ciach@ur.krakow.pl.

Abstract

Habitat loss and fragmentation are listed among the most significant effects of urbanization, which is regarded as an important threat to wildlife. Owls are the top predators in most terrestrial habitats, and their presence is a reliable indicator of ecosystem quality and complexity. However, influence of urbanization on owl communities, anthropogenic noise in particular, has not been investigated so far. The aim of this study was to identify the role of noise and landcover heterogeneity in the species richness of owl assemblage in the urban ecosystem. Owls were surveyed in the city of Kraków (southern Poland) on 65 randomly selected sample plots (1 km2). The area of main landcover types, landcover diversity index, mean size of landcover patch, and nocturnal noise level were defined within the sample plots and correlated with owl species richness. Five owl species were recorded in the study area with forests as the dominant landcover type for Tawny and Ural owls, grasslands for Long-eared and Barn owls, and gardens for Little owls. In total, 52% of sample plots were occupied by at least one species (1-3 species per plot). The number of owl species was positively correlated with landcover diversity index and negatively correlated with nocturnal noise emission. This study demonstrates that species richness of owls in urban areas may be shaped by landcover heterogeneity and limited by noise intensity. This indicates that noise changes top predator assemblage, which in consequence may disturb predator-prey interactions within human-transformed habitats.

Keywords: Acoustic predators; Habitat diversity; Habitat homogenization; Strigiformes; Traffic noise; Urban ecology.

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Figures

Fig. 1

Fig. 1

Relationship between the number of…

Fig. 1

Relationship between the number of playbacks needed to detect all owl species within…

Fig. 1
Relationship between the number of playbacks needed to detect all owl species within a sample plot (1 km2) and anthropogenic noise level; 13 is the total number of playback points surveyed within a sample plot
Fig. 2

Fig. 2

Number of owl species recorded…

Fig. 2

Number of owl species recorded on sample plots (1 km 2 , N

Fig. 2
Number of owl species recorded on sample plots (1 km2, N = 65) located within an urban environment (Kraków, S Poland)
Fig. 3

Fig. 3

Results of principal component analysis…

Fig. 3

Results of principal component analysis (PCA) showing relationship between the presence of owl…

Fig. 3
Results of principal component analysis (PCA) showing relationship between the presence of owl species (Barn owl Tyto alba, Little owl Athene noctua, Long-eared owl Asio otus, Tawny owl Strix aluco, and Ural owl Strix uralensis) and coverage of three major landcover classes (woodland, farmland, and urban) recorded on sample plots (1 km2) located within an urban environment (Kraków, S Poland)
Fig. 4

Fig. 4

Relationship between the nocturnal anthropogenic…

Fig. 4

Relationship between the nocturnal anthropogenic noise level (top), the landcover diversity index (bottom),…

Fig. 4
Relationship between the nocturnal anthropogenic noise level (top), the landcover diversity index (bottom), and the number of owl species recorded per sample plot (1 km2) located within urban environment (Kraków, S Poland)

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