Understanding the masking effects of noise on communication in natural environments

Authors

  • Robert Dooling Dept. of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States
  • Sandra Blumenrath Dept. of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States
  • Ryan Simmons Dept. of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States
  • Kurt Fristrup Natural Sounds Program, National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO, United States

Keywords:

Animals, Audition, Bioacoustics, Communication, Physiology, Adverse effect, Anthropogenic noise, Auditory systems, Broadband noise, Hearing loss, Natural environments, Pure tones, Sleep disturbances, Sound detection

Abstract

Anthropogenic noises can cause a variety of adverse effects on birds and other wildlife. These effects include stress and physiological changes, auditory system damage from acoustic overexposure, and masking of communication and other important biological sounds. A second reason is that, while all humans have similar auditory capabilities and sensitivities, the same is not true for all animals. Still another issue is separating the various effects of noise. There are well documented adverse consequences of elevated noise on humans including hearing loss, masking, stress, physiological and sleep disturbances, and changes in feelings of well-being, and it would not be too surprising to find a similar range of effects in animals. The simplest kind of masking experiment is to measure the sound detection thresholds for pure tones in the presence of a broadband noise.

Downloads

Published

2012-09-01

How to Cite

1.
Dooling R, Blumenrath S, Simmons R, Fristrup K. Understanding the masking effects of noise on communication in natural environments. Canadian Acoustics [Internet]. 2012 Sep. 1 [cited 2022 Jun. 26];40(3):42-3. Available from: https://jcaa.caa-aca.ca/index.php/jcaa/article/view/2530

Issue

Vol. 40 No. 3 (2012)

Section

Proceedings of the Acoustics Week in Canada

License

Copyright on articles is held by the author(s). The corresponding author has the right to grant on behalf of all authors and does grant on behalf of all authors, a worldwide exclusive licence (or non-exclusive license for government employees) to the Publishers and its licensees in perpetuity, in all forms, formats and media (whether known now or created in the future)
i)    to publish, reproduce, distribute, display and store the Contribution;
ii)    to translate the Contribution into other languages, create adaptations, reprints, include within collections and create summaries, extracts and/or, abstracts of the Contribution;
iii)    to exploit all subsidiary rights in the Contribution,
iv)    to provide the inclusion of electronic links from the Contribution to third party material where-ever it may be located;
v)    to licence any third party to do any or all of the above.