Loud music and insectivorous aereal bats: changes in their echolocation signals

Abstract

The ecology of aerial-insectivorous bats depends on echolocation. In the Neotropics, open-air concerts in rural or natural areas generate noise pollution, which may negatively impact bats. We propose that bats change their echolocation signals when exposed to the loud music played at these events. We evaluated this idea by recording aerial-insectivorous bats in a wetland, within a nature reserve in the Colombian highlands, while they were exposed to a mix of songs typical of the region's festivals and when there was no music. We found that both spectral and temporal characteristics of the echolocation pulses of a vespertilionid bat changed when exposed to the music. This suggests that, due to anthropogenic noise, bats must adjust their echolocation signals to continue foraging at a site and that music festivals are a source of acoustic disturbance with a detrimental impact on them.