Traffic noise exposure affects telomere length in nestling house sparrows.
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
It is shown that despite the absence of any obvious immediate consequences, nestlings reared under traffic noise exposure exhibited reduced telomere lengths compared with their unexposed neighbours, suggesting that noise exposure may entail important costs for developing organisms.Abstract:
In a consistently urbanizing world, anthropogenic noise has become almost
omnipresent, and there are increasing evidence that high noise levels can
have major impacts on wildlife. While the effects of anthropogenic noise
exposure on adult animals have been widely studied, surprisingly, there
has been little consideration of the effects of noise pollution on developing
organisms. Yet, environmental conditions experienced in early life can have
dramatic lifelong consequences for fitness. Here, we experimentally manipulated
the acoustic environment of free-living house sparrows (Passer
domesticus) breeding in nest boxes. We focused on the impact of such disturbance
on nestlings’ telomere length and fledging success, as telomeres
(the protective ends of chromosomes) appear to be a promising predictor of
longevity.We showed that despite the absence of any obvious immediate consequences
(growth and fledging success), nestlings reared under traffic noise
exposure exhibited reduced telomere lengths compared with their unexposed
neighbours. Although the mechanisms responsible for this effect remain to
be determined, our results provide the first experimental evidence that noise
alone can affect a wild vertebrate’s early-life telomere length. This suggests
that noise exposure may entail important costs for developing organisms.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Somatic growth and telomere dynamics in vertebrates: relationships, mechanisms and consequences.
Pat Monaghan,Susan E. Ozanne +1 more
TL;DR: The routes by which altered cellular conditions could influence telomere loss in vertebrates are discussed, with a focus on oxidative stress in both in vitro and in vivo studies.
Journal ArticleDOI
The association between stressors and telomeres in non-human vertebrates: a meta-analysis.
TL;DR: Interestingly, the association between stressor exposure and telomeres in one hand, and oxidative stress in the other hand, covaried, suggesting the implication of oxidative Stress in telomere dynamics.
Journal ArticleDOI
Do glucocorticoids mediate the link between environmental conditions and telomere dynamics in wild vertebrates? A review
TL;DR: The relationships that link environmental conditions, glucocorticoids (GC, the main hormonal mediator of allostasis) and telomere length in vertebrates are reviewed and new hypotheses regarding the potential of the GC stress response to drive the trade-off between immediate survival andtelomere protection are raised.
Journal ArticleDOI
Urban environment shortens telomere length in nestling great tits, Parus major
TL;DR: It is shown, for the first time, that growing up in an urban environment significantly shortens TL, independently of natal origin (i.e. urban or rural).
Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of Road Density and Pattern on the Conservation of Species and Biodiversity
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined 215 research studies conducted between 2011 and 2015 that explore the impacts of roads and road networks on a wide range of species and highlighted the continued need to devise and evaluate mitigation measures so transportation authorities and conservation practitioners may be better equipped to address the ecological implications of road and proposed road development.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Conservation
TL;DR: A review by Czech and colleagues (2000) finds that urbanization endangers more species and is more geographically ubiquitous in the mainland United States than any other human activity, emphasizing the uniquely far-reaching transformations that accompany urban sprawl as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Early growth conditions, phenotypic development and environmental change.
TL;DR: This paper outlines how the different paradigms applied in this field relate to each other, the main predictions that they produce and the kinds of experimental data needed to distinguish among competing hypotheses, and examines evidence from mechanistic and functional avian studies.
Journal ArticleDOI
Telomere length in early life predicts lifespan
Britt J. Heidinger,Jonathan D. Blount,Winnie Boner,Kate Griffiths,Neil B. Metcalfe,Pat Monaghan +5 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured telomere length in zebra finches from the nestling stage and at various points thereafter, and recorded their natural lifespan (which varied from less than 1 to almost 9 y).
Journal ArticleDOI
A Framework for Understanding Noise Impacts on Wildlife: An Urgent Conservation Priority
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review a substantial literature detailing the impacts of noise on wildlife and provide a conceptual framework to guide future research, and discuss how several likely impacts of exposure have yet to be rigorously studied and outline how behavioral responses to noise are linked to the nature of the noise stimulus.
Journal ArticleDOI
Chronic infection. Hidden costs of infection: chronic malaria accelerates telomere degradation and senescence in wild birds.
Muhammad Asghar,Dennis Hasselquist,Bengt Hansson,Pavel Zehtindjiev,Helena Westerdahl,Staffan Bensch +5 more
TL;DR: In a wild population of great reed warblers, it was found that low-level chronic malaria infection reduced life span as well as the lifetime number and quality of offspring.