Fatima Moflehi
10/9/2023
Professor Lindeman
Critique of “Noise Pollution Is Changing Forests”
In the article “Noise Pollution Is Changing Forests” Sindya N. Bhanoo brings up a concern on noise polluted areas (areas that have lots of disrupting noises from things such as construction, cars, machines, etc.) and how it is affecting certain species and plants.The purpose of this article is to shed light on the detrimental effects of noise pollution and how something we might not see as a direct correlation can still play a major role in hurting our ecosystems. My critique will delve into her major points and investigate its accuracy by connecting it to other sources that provide a clearer explanation to her argument.
Sindya brings up a point on how noise pollution has caused the hummingbird population to increase while the scrub jay population decreases and this directly affects the increase of flowers and decrease of pinyon trees. The author explains the relation of hummingbirds and flowers by the increase of pollination done by the hummingbirds and explains the relation of scrub jays and pinyon trees by the decrease of pinyon seed dispersal by scrub jays that gather the seeds and hide them in different places. An article by insidescience.org called “Noise Pollution Could Stop Forests from Growing” discusses this point further by providing a number to this argument. The writer Nala Rogers writes “In areas that had been noisy for at least 15 years, the researchers found only about 13 pinyon seedlings and four juniper seedlings per hectare, compared with 55 pinyon seedlings and 29 juniper seedlings per hectare in quiet areas. The noise also seemed to affect the rest of the plant community, with different wildflower and shrub species dominating in loud versus quiet sites.” This gives a clearer picture on Sindyas point by showing how in noisy areas where there is a decrease of scrub jays researchers found less pinyon seedlings and juniper seedlings compared to the amount of seedlings in quieter areas where scrub jays can be found.
Another Point Sindya brings up is the worries about the pinyon and trees because they “play a crucial role in the ecosystem of the Southwest.” This worry is justified because pinyon trees take a long time to grow and produce seeds, with the lack of pinyon seedlings being able to sow and grow the speed of recovering those seeds takes longer making it hard for the pinyon tree population to recover. “Noise Pollution Could Stop Forests from Growing” provides a finding on pinyon trees and how “pinyons only produce seeds once every five to seven years, so it takes a long time for them to recover.” and that “In previously noisy sites that had been quiet for the last two to four years, junipers were once again sprouting, but pinyon seedlings were still scarce. As it says in Nala Rogers article “the findings suggest noise pollution is more than a mere nuisance, according to the researchers — it could be a serious threat with the power to transform ecosystems.”
My response to these findings is that noise pollution is a serious issue to our environment and that a stronger stance on decreasing it is the only way in which we can slowly recover our lost ecosystems.
Overall the arguments made in “Noise Pollution is Changing Forests” can be backed up by other articles that have their own findings. This also further proves the accuracy of her claims and its lack of bias.
Sources:
(Sindiya N. Bhanoo, March 26 2012)
( Nala Rogers, April 13 2021)
https://www.insidescience.org/news/noise-pollution-could-stop-forests-growing
