RAPID: Effects of increased human presence on the brain and behavior of a wild songbird

Humans alter the environment by building infrastructure, such as roads and buildings, and also through our presence in wildlands for recreation. Though some species are excluded by human impacts on the environment, many species of wildlife readily modify their behavior to cope with changes such as urbanization. Studying the neural and physiological mechanisms that permit some species to adjust to environmental change addresses the fundamental scientific question of how behavioral flexibility is achieved.

Additionally, understanding how species adjust to different aspects of environmental change can inform conservation and management efforts. The proposed work will take advantage of an increase in human recreation in parks in Montgomery County, VA that has been driven by the COVID-19 quarantine to both compare the effects of human presence relative to those of the built environment, and identify brain mechanisms that regulate behavioral adjustments to environmental change in a common song bird, the song sparrow.

By working with a local land trust to educate the community about our research this work will benefit the birders and walkers using the park, as well as provide insight into the conservation of wild songbirds.

Human-induced rapid environmental change is a threat to biodiversity and especially songbirds. While some species are in decline because of impacts such as urbanization, others have traits that allow them to cope with changing conditions. Behavioral plasticity is critical for the persistence of species and individuals in the face of rapid environmental change, yet we do not fully understand the mechanisms underlying such flexibility.

Moreover, though distinguishing the effects of different types of anthropogenic change is critical for conservation, we do not understand their consequences for wildlife. The proposed work capitalizes on a temporary increase in outdoor recreation in rural environments during the COVID-19 pandemic to determine how increased human presence impacts the behavior and underlying brain mechanisms in free-living song sparrows (Melospiza melodia).

Much of what we know about the effects of anthropogenic change on wildlife comes from studies of urbanization. Wild animals living in urban habitats are more aggressive than rural counterparts but the mechanisms regulating these differences remain unclear. Our research group demonstrated that increased territorial aggression in male song sparrows living at our long-term urban study sites is associated with differences in the function of the arginine vasotocin (AVT) system.

Therefore, to characterize the contribution of the AVT system to behavioral plasticity in response to anthropogenic change we will compare brain and behavioral measures from adult birds (Aim 1) and hatch-year birds (Aim 2) living in replicate urban habitats, rural habitats with low human presence, and rural habitats with temporary increases in human presence.

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.