HMSC VIRTUAL RESEARCH SEMINAR

HMSC VIRTUAL RESEARCH SEMINAR- Thursday, July 8, 2021

SPEAKER: Dylan Gomes, Postdoctoral Researcher, OSU’s Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies and NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Newport, OR

TOPIC: How wildlife respond to natural noise: A ‘phantom rivers’ experiment

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic noise is a recent addition to the environment, which has had demonstrable, largely negative, effects on wildlife. Yet, we know relatively little about how animals respond to natural sources of noise, that can differ substantially in acoustic characteristics from human-caused noise. Animal sensory systems have evolved in a natural din of noise since the evolution of sensory organs, which may allow us to better understand the evolutionary context of coping mechanisms for dealing with both natural and anthropogenic sources of noise. To build a better foundation around the effects of natural noise on wildlife, we experimentally and continuously broadcast whitewater river noise across a landscape for three summers and monitored bird, bat, and arthropod abundance and activity and assessed predator-prey relationships with bird and bat foraging assays and by counting prey in spider webs. Our results reveal that natural noise has the power to alter animal abundances and behavior in a way that likely reverberates through entire communities and food webs.

DATE: Thursday, July 8, 2021

TIME: 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

For the live broadcast of the VIRTUAL Thursday Seminar, visit:
https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/94555731151?pwd=RnJ6eVg0ODdzRUpVc0pQbUlIdUV3dz09
Password: 972587 or call +1-971-247-1195 US Meeting ID: 945 5573 1151

For recordings of past Thursday Seminars, visit: http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/pastseminars

Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made to Cinamon Moffett, 541-867-0126, moffettc@oregonstate.edu.