
NSF Org: |
DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | July 17, 2018 |
Latest Amendment Date: | July 17, 2018 |
Award Number: | 1812280 |
Award Instrument: | Fellowship Award |
Program Manager: |
Daniel Marenda
DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
Start Date: | December 1, 2018 |
End Date: | November 30, 2021 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $138,000.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $138,000.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
Sanger CA US 93657-9405 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
San Luis Obispo CA US 93407-0466 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | Broadening Participation of Gr |
Primary Program Source: |
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Program Reference Code(s): | |
Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2018, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Recently, the rise in anthropogenic (human-made) sensory pollution - noise and nightlight - present conditions that are unprecedented in the fossil record and could fundamentally disrupt the ways in which animals interact with the environment. Limited research has focused on the singular effects of noise or light on animal communication and reproduction. However, human-made noise and light typically co-occur in today's human-dominated world, thus understanding their combined influence is an urgent conservation priority. This research aims to understand how human-caused noise and light affects reproductive success among a community of birds. The fellow will study nest placement, nesting success, and fledgling survival across noisy and dark, bright and quiet, noisy and bright, and quiet and dark sites. By focusing on several species, the fellow will be able determine how the bird community changes with sensory pollution, how behaviors within species change (i.e. nesting timing, feeding rates, movement or avoidance behaviors), and which species are more likely to succeed in sensory polluted areas. Determining the consequences of sensory pollution caused by anthropogenic activities lays the groundwork for conserving wild places, species, and reconciling spaces where nature and humanity interact. Results will be used to inform partners at the National Parks Division of Natural Sounds and Night Skies and Bureau of Land Management to help protect species and reconcile human pollution with conservation. This project broadens participation of groups underrepresented or invisible in biology, including LGBTQ, minorities and Hispanic students by funding multiple diverse students, and allowing the fellow to engage in novel research in sensory ecology and educational outreach. The fellow will mentor diverse students as a part of her field crew and is developing sensory ecology workshops for underrepresented students in central California.
The fellow will test the effects of noise and light pollution on breeding success and fledgling survival of a community of birds in New Mexico by implementing a large-scale manipulative field experiment with four treatments (Noise, Light, Light + Noise, & Control). By measuring settlement patterns, reproductive success, and activity states, the fellow will test mechanistic pathways that link exposure to sensory stimuli to changes in fitness. Fledgling survival will be monitored with radio telemetry to test hypothesized direct and indirect, predator mediated consequences of exposure. The fellow expects noise to decrease hatching and juvenile success, while light increases clutch size and provisioning rates but increases vulnerability to predation. Thus, the fellow expects Light + Noise will have mixed effects on fitness. The fellow will also recruit and train diverse students to gain biological field experience and develop outreach and workshops for underrepresented students in K-12 schools.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
OVERVIEW
This project aimed to broaden participation of groups underrepresented or invisible in biology, including LGBTQ, minorities, and women by funding multiple diverse students and the PI (Jennifer N. Phillips) to engage in novel research in sensory ecology. Over evolutionary timescales the sensory environment has provided reliable cues for animals to entrain their physiology or interact with con- and heterospecifics. Recently, however, the rise in multimodal anthropogenic pollution, such as noise and nightlight, present conditions that are unprecedented in the fossil record and could fundamentally disrupt the ways in which organisms obtain and respond to environmental cues and interact with one another. Limited recent research has focused on the singular effects of anthropogenic noise or light on animal communication, and, to a lesser degree, reproduction. However, evidence for an influence of these stimuli on fitness is equivocal and they are rarely studied together, which is how they often occur in real world contexts. Here, the PI proposed to work with Dr. Clinton Francis of Cal Poly on a full factorial experiment to test the effects of noise and light pollution on breeding success of open cup and cavity nesting birds in New Mexico. To do this, the PI?s diverse undergraduate team implemented a large-scale manipulative field experiment with four treatments (Noise, Light, Light + Noise, & Control). They measured settlement patterns and several metrics of reproductive success, plus important data on behavior and activity states with telemetry to test hypothesized mechanistic pathways that link exposure to sensory stimuli to changes in reproductive success. In addition, fledgling survival and movement will be monitored using radio-telemetry to test hypothesized direct and indirect, predator mediated consequences of exposure on fledgling survival.
BROADER IMPACTS
Diversity in Science: The PI (Jennifer N Phillips) has received training in sensory ecology at the Animal Behavior conference in 2021, the North American Ornithological Conference in 2020, the 2019 Western Section Wildlife Society Conference, the 2018 International Ornithological Conference, and at an NSF bioacoustics workshop. She has trained or mentored 8 technicians, 14 undergraduates, a high school student, and five master?s student on experimental design, ornithological techniques, data analysis, data management, and scientific writing. Over 75% of these mentees have been women or from underrepresented groups in science. Five undergraduates have presented their work at the Frost Scholars Undergraduate research symposium. Three student/technician led papers are in prep and three have been published. Outreach: The PI led six outreach workshops (four high school, one elementary, one college). She mentored a high school girl on careers in biology and provided a ?day in the life of a woman ornithologist? shadow in December 2019. She presented her background and current research to students in the zoological club at Cal Poly and served on a panel at UC San Diego career event representing women in science. She provided numerous interviews to disseminate her work on the radio or podcasts and gave invited presentations at local, national, and international conferences.
INTELLECTUAL MERIT
Effects of Sensory Pollution on Fitness: The PI successfully set up the full factorial experiment to test the effects of noise and light pollution on breeding success of open cup and cavity nesting birds in New Mexico and collected three years of data. Nesting densities differ by species and treatment. For example, several species appear to nest in higher densities in light-exposed sites, yet daily nest survival for open cup nests declines with light exposure through higher rates of abandonment and clutch failure (logistic exposure model: β = -1.12, SE = 0.5, z = -2.25, p = 0.02). These data suggest that light acts as ecological trap for open cup nesters. Supporting earlier work in this system, nest success is significantly higher on noisy plots compared to quiet plots due to less depredation across all species (GLMM: β = 0.25, t = 17, SE = 0.08, p = 0.002). Effects of Sensory Pollution on Movement: The research team radiotagged 24 adults and 45 fledglings over three years to assess movement responses to light and noise pollution. Adult birds exposed to the combined effects of light and noise start daily activity an average 47.5 ? 14.8 (mean ? SE) minutes earlier than those on control plots (LMM: t = 3.21, p = 0.01), suggestive of negative additive effects on sleep and incubation. Survival of fledglings does not significantly vary with preliminary data; patterns of movement as related to sensory pollution levels are currently being analyzed by a master?s student mentee for future publication. Overall, this project is the first to provide data on multiple species fitness responses within a community to sensory pollution, and future research will continue to investigate the ultimate outcomes of animals adapting to anthropogenic change.
Last Modified: 01/31/2022
Modified by: Jennifer N Phillips
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