Fire, Smoke, and Song: Impacts of fine particulate matter on the health, behavior, and detection of birds and other wildlife

Abstract

Birds are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, yet studies on the direct and indirect effects of air pollution on birds are limited. In this dissertation, I explored how fine particulate matter (PM2.5) drives patterns in bird observations with the goal of providing insight into avian responses to air pollution and generating foundational knowledge to guide future study. I considered the effect of PM2.5 in different contexts, both as a major component of wildfire smoke and as an urban air pollutant. I incorporated four distinct methods, including 1) executing a systematic literature review, 2) modeling the effect of PM2.5 on the probability of observing birds, 3) evaluating the influence of PM2.5 on birdsong and other soundscape features, and 4) using occupancy models to directly estimate the effect of PM2.5 on detection of birds. Together, these approaches demonstrate spatial, temporal, and interspecific variation in the relationship between PM2.5 and bird observations and underscore the potential for interdisciplinary collaborations to rapidly advance research on the impacts of air pollution on birds.