Fracking Found to Interfere With the Love Lives of Songbirds

Rapid growth in shale gas development through fracking has hindered the reproductive success of songbirds, according to a new study.

A team of researchers mapped Louisiana waterbrush territories and monitored nests along 14 streams in northwestern West Virginia from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2015.

Their report, published Tuesday in the journal The Condor: Ornithological Applications, shows that the nesting success of the waterthrush, which nests along forested streams, declined at sites impacted by fracking development.

“I hope our findings lead to robust protections of our forested headwater stream ecosystems, which are currently overlooked for regulation despite their critical role in providing nutrients and organic matter downstream, not to mention as an important source for drinking water,” said lead author Mack Frantz, a graduate teaching assistant at West Virginia University.

“Waterthrushes are a modern-day ‘canary in the coal mine,’ and there are many more opportunities to study how anthropogenic disturbance affects and entangles food webs at the aquatic-terrestrial interface.”


https://www.courthousenews.com/fracking-found-to-interfere-with-the-love-lives-of-songbirds/