POTENTIAL ACOUSTIC MASKING OF GREATER SAGE-GROUSE (CENTROCERCUS UROPHASIANUS) DISPLAY COMPONENTS BY CHRONIC INDUSTRIAL NOISE

Abstract Anthropogenic noise can limit the ability of birds to communicate by masking their acoustic signals. Masking, which reduces the distance over which the signal can be perceived by a receiver, is frequency dependent, so the different notes of a single song may be masked to different degrees. We analyzed the individual notes of mating vocalizations produced by Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and noise from natural gas infrastructure to quantify the potential for such noise to mask Greater Sage-Grouse vocalizations over both long and short distances. We found that noise produced by natural gas infrastructure was dominated by low frequencies, with substantial overlap in frequency with Greater Sage-Grouse acoustic displays. Such overlap predicted substantial masking, reducing the active space of detection and discrimination of all vocalization components, and particularly affecting low-frequency and low-amplitude notes. Such masking could increase the difficulty of mate assessment for l...