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Mining noise affects loud call structures and emission patterns of wild black-fronted titi monkeys

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Abstract

Anthropogenic noise pollution is increasing and can constrain acoustic communication in animals. Our aim was to investigate if the acoustic parameters of loud calls and their diurnal pattern in the black-fronted titi monkey (Callicebus nigrifrons) are affected by noise produced by mining activity in a fragment of Atlantic Forest in Brazil. We installed two passive acoustic monitoring devices to record sound 24 h/day, 7 days every 2 months, for a year; one unit was close to an opencast mine and the other 2.5 km away from it. Both sites presented similar habitat structures and were inhabited by groups of black-fronted titi monkeys. We quantified the noise at both sites by measuring the equivalent continuous sound level every 2 months for 1 year and quantified the emission of loud calls by titi monkeys through visual inspection of the recordings. The close site presented higher ambient noise levels than the far site. The quantitative comparison of loud calls of black-fronted titi monkeys between the two sites showed less calling activity in the site close to the mine than in the site further away. Approximately 20 % of the calls detected at the site close to the mine were masked by noise from truck traffic. Loud calls were longer at the site far from the mine and the diurnal patterns of vocal activity differed in the amount of calling as well as in the timing of peak calling activity between the two sites. Our results indicate that mining noise may constrain titi monkeys’ long-distance vocal communication. Loud calls occupy a similar frequency band to mining noise, and an increase in ambient noise may be triggering black-fronted titi monkeys to adjust their long-distance communication patterns to avoid masking of their calls. Given that vocalizations are an important means of social interaction in this species, there are concerns about the impact of mining noise on populations exposed to this human activity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the staff at the Peti Environmental Station, especially Leotacílio da Fonseca. We are also grateful to Luane Ferreira for help with the analyses and figures, Marina Scarpelli and Renan Duarte for their help during data acquisition, and engineer Krisdany Cavalcante for help with the noise measurements. We are grateful to Martin Fisher and two anonymous reviewers for comments on the manuscript. M. H. L. D. and M. C. K. were supported by CAPES (PNPD) and the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG/VALE). M. R., R. J. Y. and R. S. L. received financial support from FAPEMIG/VALE and the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Conservation, Ecology and Animal Behaviour Group-Laboratory of Bioacoustics, Post-Graduate Program in Vertebrate Biology and Museum of Natural Sciences, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Avenida Dom José Gaspar, 290, Bairro Coração Eucarístico, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 30535-901, Brazil

    M. H. L. Duarte & M. C. Kaizer

  2. Laboratory of Ornithology, Department of Zoology, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Avenida Presidente Antônio Carlos, 6627, Bairro Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Brazil

    M. H. L. Duarte & M. Rodrigues

  3. School of Environment and Life Sciences, Peel Building, University of Salford Manchester, Salford, M5 4WT, UK

    M. C. Kaizer & R. J. Young

  4. Laboratory of Bioacoustics (LaB), Department of Physiology and Behavior, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Avenida Senador Salgado Filho, 3000, Bairro Lagoa Nova, Natal, RN, 59078-970, Brazil

    R. S. Sousa-Lima

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  1. M. H. L. Duarte
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Correspondence to M. H. L. Duarte.

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Duarte, M.H.L., Kaizer, M.C., Young, R.J. et al. Mining noise affects loud call structures and emission patterns of wild black-fronted titi monkeys. Primates 59, 89–97 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-017-0629-4

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