METHODS Bird counts and noise data were taken concurrently by volunteers in the Fresno Bird Count, a citizen science project that uses point counts to census birds on a 460km 2 grid across the FCMA, during spring breeding season (April-May) since 2008, and winter (January) since This analysis focuses on the following variables:  Noise: estimated subjectively at the same time as the 5 minute point count; ranked as none, moderate, or extreme. These levels were validated with measurements taken with a noise meter during the 2012 count.  Bird Species Richness: cumulative count of all bird species per site for the years  Abundance: average; total number of birds per site divided by number of years the site was surveyed. A combination of vector data and rasterized satellite imagery data was used to generate the FCMA boundary layer. ArcGIS 10.0 was used to construct a GIS model to analyze species occurrence against the acoustic soundscapes faced by urban birds. SINGING THROUGH THE URBAN NOISE Many studies have shown that products of urban development, such as anthropogenic noise, have an impact on the behavior of animals, especially birds. The sensory drive concept suggests that environmental conditions, such as ambient sound, influence the evolution of vocal behavior. In the Central Valley of California, recent studies have shown that house finches and white-crowned sparrows tend to change their songs in noisy areas. Urbanization and associated vehicular traffic present the biggest modern source of noise, and thus a novel context in which to study the effects of noise on bird diversity. This study examines how urban noise affects bird richness and abundance in the Fresno-Clovis Metropolitan Area (FCMA). The insights gained into how the urban environment affects biodiversity and animal behavior can help us better manage cities in ways that promote biodiversity. We hypothesize that noisier urban areas will have fewer bird species (lower bird species richness) and perhaps fewer individual birds (lower abundance) overall. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful to all the volunteers of the Fresno Bird Count for all of their hard work for the last five years. We would also like to thank Sonia Mendoza, Steven Jones, and Seth Reid for their work on the project, the Division of Graduate Studies at CSU, Fresno for financial support to P. Garcia, and the National Science Foundation and U.S. Forest Service (Award # ) for supporting the ULTRA-FACES project. Photos: M. Katti REFERENCES City of Clovis. City boundary shapefile City of Fresno. City boundary shapefile Earth Explorer. Landsat 5 TM Reid, S Ecological & Social drivers of tree species diversity & distribution in urban habitats of the Central Valley of California, M.S. Thesis. California State University, Fresno. Rosenzweig, M.L Reconciliation Ecology and the Future of Species Diversity. Oryx 37, 194–205. Slabbekoorn, H. and E. A. P. Ripmeester Birdsong and Anthropogenic Noise: Implications and Applications for Conservation. Molecular Ecology 17(1): Schleder, B Residential irrigation as a driver of urban bird community structure. M.S. Thesis. California State University, Fresno. Walker, J.S., et.al Birds of a feather: interpolating distribution patterns of urban birds. Computers, Environment, and Urban Systems 31: 19–28. Effects of Urban Noise on Bird Diversity Pedro Garcia, Madhusudan Katti, Jenny Phillips Department of Biology, California State University, Fresno DISCUSSION  Our results support the hypothesis that anthropogenic noise in urban areas is correlated with reduced bird species richness.  More so, urban areas with extreme noise levels had fewer species than areas with moderate noise (p = ) and significantly fewer species when compared to areas with no noise (p=.0338).  The overall abundance of birds is not influenced by noise levels (p = ), suggesting factors other than noise (such as food availability) play a bigger role in urban bird populations.  Although there was a similar trend in the effect of noise on the species richness of only passerines, the differences were not significant. Considering that past research has shown the significant effects that noise has on song development and formation, we expect that a larger sample size for each survey year would give more sound results.  Future research will focus on:  Species level analyses to assess which ones are likely more vulnerable to anthropogenic noise.  Using precise background noise recordings (dB) for each site to improve the resolution of the noise map.  Using Kriging models for interpolating distribution patterns of different bird groups in relation to noise. SITE LOCATIONS RESULTS * p = p = p = Richness ExtremeModerateNone  Noise level has a significant effect on bird species richness at the site (ANOVA, F 2, 236 = 3.28 ; p = ).  Site with extreme noise levels had significantly fewer species than those with moderate or no noise post-hoc Tukey-Kramer HSD  Noise level does not have a significant effect on total bird abundance at the site. (ANOVA, F 2,236 = 2.44 ;p = ). Abundance ExtremeModerateNone p = p = p = Level- Levelp-Value NoneExtreme ModerateExtreme NoneModerate * * ExtremeModerateNone Richness p = p = p =  Noise level does not have a significant effect on passerine richness at the site. (ANOVA, F 2, 211 = 2.44; p = ).  We predict that a larger sample size for each survey would strengthen the trend.  An Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation model was used to create a noise map of the FCMA. Observed noise values (none, moderate, extreme) for each survey site (n=239) were used to create a large gradient of noise values ranging from no noise (value = 1) to extreme noise (value = 3).  Future research will use similar interpolation models to predict distribution of bird species in relation to noise.