Noise Disrupts Cricket Reproduction, Threatening Wildlife Food Chains

摘要

Anthropogenic noise has a significant negative impact on the mating behavior of crickets, according to new research carried out at Anglia Ruskin University, East Anglia, U.K. The study examined responses of female field crickets to male courtship songs of differing quality under three acoustic conditions: ambient noise, artificial white noise, and traffic noise. "In ambient noise conditions, females significantly preferred mates paired with higher-quality songs, indicated by increased mating rates and reduced latency to mate," the study found. "However, this mate selection pattern was disrupted in both traffic and white noise conditions."