美国田纳西大学Elizabeth P. Derryberry等研究人员发现，鸟类的鸣叫因为COVID-19封锁而改变。2020年9月24日，《科学》杂志在线发表了这一研究成果。

 

通过比较整个州范围内关闭之前和期间整个旧金山湾地区的鸟鸣，研究人员评估了普通鸣鸟是否响应性地利用了新的声学空间。研究人员发现，在停车期间，市区的噪音水平显著降低，这是1950年代中期交通的特征。研究人员还表明，鸟类的反应是在较低的振幅下产生性能更高的歌曲，从而有效地最大化了交流距离和显著性。

 

这些发现表明，行为特征可以响应新近出现的有利条件而迅速改变，进而表明对诸如噪声污染之类的长期人为压力具有内在的适应力。

 

据悉，为控制COVID-19大流行而采取的行动已显著减少了机动车通行，从而减轻了依靠声音进行生存和繁殖的动物听觉压力。 

 

附：英文原文

 

Title:Singing in a silent spring: Birds respond to a half-century soundscape reversion during the COVID-19 shutdown

 

Author:Elizabeth P. Derryberry1,*,†, View ORCID ProfileJennifer N. Phillips2,3,†, View ORCID ProfileGraham E. Derryberry1, View ORCID ProfileMichael J. Blum

 

Issue&Volume:24 Sep 2020

 

Abstract: Actions taken to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have conspicuously reduced motor vehicle traffic, potentially alleviating auditory pressures on animals that rely on sound for survival and reproduction. Here we evaluate whether a common songbird responsively exploited newly emptied acoustic space by comparing soundscapes and songs across the San Francisco Bay Area prior to and during the recent statewide shutdown. We show that noise levels in urban areas were dramatically lower during the shutdown, characteristic of traffic in the mid-1950s. We also show that birds responded by producing higher performance songs at lower amplitudes, effectively maximizing communication distance and salience. These findings illustrate that behavioral traits can change rapidly in response to newly favorable conditions, indicating an inherent resilience to long-standing anthropogenic pressures like noise pollution.

 

DOI:DOI: 10.1126/science.abd5777

 

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/23/science.abd5777