Live music events may decrease bat activity, according to scientists
Numerous music events often take place in the summer, which is great for music fans but not so great for bats. According to a British research, these animals are very sensitive to noise and may get disoriented by the noise produced by such occurrences. In the UK, scientists at the Universities of Bath and the West of England have been looking at how these little animals are affected by noise pollution, notably those from music events. They ran an experiment over the course of two nights at ten locations in England and Wales that were frequented by various bat species to achieve this. In the first, the researchers aired background noise for 10 minutes at an average sound level of 98.74 dB and 10-minute medleys at an average sound volume of 42.82 dB on a “control” night. To accurately reflect the varied programming of most festivals, these medleys were made up of five songs from various musical genres.
When exposed to loud music, the study team discovered a decrease in nighttime activity in all bat species investigated. This was around 47% for Nyctalus/Eptesicus bats and 32% for Pipistrellus pipistrellus bats. They are hence the bats that can tolerate music festivals’ loud noises the best.
These animals are not hypersensitive to noise, albeit certain bat species are less susceptible to loud music than others. When it comes to gathering the information they need to live, whether it is to orient themselves in space, obtain food, breed, or escape possible predators, nocturnal creatures significantly depend on their hearing. According to the researchers’ findings in their study, which was only recently published in the journal British Ecological Society, changing soundscapes may consequently impair people’s capacity to identify and distinguish key auditory signals.
In order to protect the wildlife that lives close to the areas where music festivals temporarily set up camp, according to Jack Hooker, the study’s primary author, it is critical that festival organizers become aware of this phenomena. “If we are to share these habitats with wildlife in a sustainable manner, it is imperative that guidance relating to their planning and implementation is evidence-based and fully protects local biodiversity from any potential negative impacts,” he said in a statement. “Music festivals have become ubiquitous in the UK and are increasingly being held in places that are important for local wildlife.”
This research demonstrates that ambient noise has a far greater impact on bats than previously believed. However, unlike humans, they don’t lose much of their hearing sensitivity when exposed to loud noises, even at levels up to 140 dB, which are over the threshold of human hearing.
