33rd Annual Student Research Conference
Impacts of Anthropogenic Noise on Cricket Development and Survivorship
Alyssa R. Cluck*, Kelly McKay, and Sydney A. Gwaltney
Dr. Michael Kuczynski and Dr. Daniela Ostrowski, Faculty Mentors
Human-made noise pollution is a growing concern, recognized to negatively impact a variety of species. Anthropogenic noise has been shown to alter important behaviors in numerous vertebrate species including frogs and birds. Relatively little research has focused on the consequences of long-term exposure to noise pollution over development. In this study, we investigated the impact of noise pollution on the survival and development of an invertebrate taxa: the house cricket (Acheta domesticus). Despite their important role in numerous ecosystems, the influence of noise on invertebrate systems has remained comparatively unexplored. We raised crickets in laboratory conditions in one of two environments, exposure to 12-hour traffic noise or absence of additional noise (control group). The crickets in the control environment had a significantly higher survivorship rate than those raised in the traffic noise environment. Additionally, crickets exposed to noise were significantly smaller at adulthood compared to crickets in the control group.
Keywords: Anthropogenic, Noise, Crickets, Development, Survivorship
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA