New research has found monkeys increasing their use of scent markings to compensate for human noise pollution. The pied tamarin monkeys of central Brazil use both sound and scent to communicate. The monkeys are mostly found in the city of Manaus, with groups living in small patches of forest surrounded by city noise. Researchers from Universidade Federal do Amazonas and Anglia Ruskin University found the use of scent marking increased in line with decibel noise levels. The most common source of anthropogenic noise was road traffic, along with noise pollution caused by aircraft, park visitors, and military activity. The results suggest that scent marking is being used more frequently as the pied tamarins’ vocal communication becomes less effective due to the impacts of human noise.
Co-author Dr Jacob Dunn, Associate Professor in Evolutionary Biology at Anglia Ruskin University, said:“Humans have contributed many additional stimuli to the soundscapes that animals have evolved to deal with, and anthropogenic noise is increasingly drowning out natural sounds."
This study is the first to investigate how monkeys communicate in response to noise pollution.
