Spatial and temporal variation in ambient vibratory noise and its impact potential on a common urban arthropod
The following data and code are provided as a reference for the associated publication in Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. This publication was written in association with my Ph.D. dissertation.
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👩 Authors: Brandi Pessman, Rowan McGinley, and Eileen Hebets
🕷️ S️tudy Organism: Agelenopsis pennsylvanica (the funnel-weaving spider or grass spider)
The use of vibratory information is widespread across arthropods, and disruption in this sensory channel from human-induced noise is likely. We quantified variation in vibratory noise across an urban-rural microhabitat and the adult season of the funnel-weaving spider (Agelenopsis pennsylvanica). Vibratory noise varied spatially in urban areas and seasonally in rural areas and was linked to traffic and harvesting, respectively. We found that A. pennsylvanica collected from urban and rural habitats had complex responses to using a variable vibratory microhabitat.
The code presented in this repository walks through the analysis of this data, including:
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Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to reduce dimensionality of traffic variables (1_pca_analysis.Rmd)
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Wrangling/munging the data files (2_data_wrangling.Rmd)
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Utilizing USDA data about 2020 crop harvest in Lancaster County, Nebraska (3_USDA_harvest_2020.Rmd)
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Running statistical analysis (4_noise_analysis.Rmd, 6_choice_trials.Rmd, 8_activity_levels.Rmd)
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Assessing frequency profiles of vibrations in the field (5_noise_frequency_profiles.Rmd) and in the microhabitat use trials (7_choice_vibration_map.Rmd)
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Making publication-ready figures and tables (9_publication_figures.Rmd, 10_publication_tables.Rmd)
📓 Date Collected: Field Recordings: Aug. 3-Oct. 24, 2020 and Aug. 11-20, 2022; Microhabitat Use Trials: Sep. 13-Oct. 7, 2022
📖 Date Published: June 14, 2024
📓 Data collected in: Lincoln, Nebraska
📖 Data published in: Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata
Vibratory noise is an understudied human disturbance. Like airborne acoustic noise, it has the potential to overlap spectrally, spatially, and temporally with animal communication and foraging signals/cues. This gap in research is concerning because the use of vibratory information is ubiquitous across ecologically critical arthropods. We stress the importance of understanding how vibratory noise (and any environmental disturbance) varies across the microhabitat and season of the study organism to identify potential overlaps. Our research showed that vibratory noise is as widespread and persistent as airborne acoustic noise, and we urge the study of its impact across vibrationally-orienting animals, particularly arthropods. Further research is vital to determine the role vibratory noise may play in the disappearance of arthropods and their essential ecosystem services from urban spaces.
💻 R programming language
Analyses include:
- Principal Component Analysis (PCA) (1_pca_analysis.Rmd)
- Linear mixed-effect (LME) models and robust LME models (4_noise_analysis.Rmd)
- Generalized linear models with binomial, beta, and negative binomial distributions (6_choice_trials.Rmd, 8_activity_levels.Rmd)
- Bootstrapping for LME and GLME model predictions (4_noise_analysis.Rmd, 6_choice_trials.Rmd)
🎶️ Raven Pro Software for the analysis of vibrations