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The effects of acute exposure to mining machinery noise on the behaviour of eastern blue-tongued lizards (Tiliqua scincoides)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

KF Mancera ,
PJ Murray ,
A Lisle ,
C Dupont ,
F Faucheux  and
CJC Phillips
KF Mancera*
Affiliation:
Centre of Animal Welfare and Ethics (CAWE), School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland (UQ), Gatton 4343, QLD, Australia
PJ Murray
Affiliation:
Centre of Animal Welfare and Ethics (CAWE), School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland (UQ), Gatton 4343, QLD, Australia Wildlife Science Unit, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Australia
A Lisle
Affiliation:
Statistical Advisory Services, Faculty of Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus, Queensland 4343, Australia
C Dupont
Affiliation:
Centre of Animal Welfare and Ethics (CAWE), School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland (UQ), Gatton 4343, QLD, Australia Université de Picardie Jules Verne, IUT d’Amiens, Avenué des Facultiés, Le Bailly, 80025, Salouël, France
F Faucheux
Affiliation:
Centre of Animal Welfare and Ethics (CAWE), School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland (UQ), Gatton 4343, QLD, Australia Université de Picardie Jules Verne, IUT d’Amiens, Avenué des Facultiés, Le Bailly, 80025, Salouël, France
CJC Phillips
Affiliation:
Centre of Animal Welfare and Ethics (CAWE), School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland (UQ), Gatton 4343, QLD, Australia
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
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Abstract

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The mining industry is an important source of noise for wildlife, and the eastern blue-tongued (EBT) lizard (Tiliqua scincoides) is an Australian animal that may be impacted. We analysed the behaviour of nine EBT lizards during and after exposure for 5 s to one of five combinations of mining machinery noise frequency and amplitude (frequency < or > 2 kHz, low [60-65 dB (A)] and high [70-75 dB (A)] amplitude, or a control treatment). Following exposure, lizards could leave the test chamber and enter an escape chamber, which led into a small hiding chamber. Chambers were monitored for 15 min after initial exposure. In the test chamber, lizards exposed to high frequency, high amplitude noise spent more time freezing, a typical stress response in reptiles, when compared with animals in all the other treatments. This was especially the case for lizards exposed to high frequency noise. In the hiding chamber, high frequency noise at high amplitudes decreased durations of head positioning to the right and downwards, suggesting a lateralised fear reaction, but decreased standing and freezing behaviours. We hypothesise that lizards have lateralised behaviour reactions to mining noise, with high frequency, high amplitude noise being the most detrimental. Our results demonstrate that acute exposure to mining noise had negative effects on EBT lizards’ behaviour and welfare, which may suggest a threat for lizards experiencing chronic mining noise in the wild, making the study of mining machinery noise in situ a research priority.

Keywords

animal welfareanthropogenic noiseeastern blue-tongued lizardlateralisationmining noisesound mimicking
Type
Articles
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , February 2017 , pp. 11 - 24
Copyright
© 2017 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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