Noise pollution is expanding at an unprecedented rate and is increasingly associated with impaired reproduction and development across taxa. However, whether noise sound waves are intrinsically harmful for developing young—or merely disturb parents—and the fitness consequences of early exposure remain unknown. Here, by only manipulating the offspring, we show that sole exposure to noise in early life in zebra finches has fitness consequences and causes embryonic death during exposure. Exposure to pre- and postnatal traffic noise cumulatively impaired nestling growth and physiology and aggravated telomere shortening across life stages until adulthood. Consistent with a long-term somatic impact, early life noise exposure, especially prenatally, decreased individual offspring production throughout adulthood. Our findings suggest that the effects of noise pollution are more pervasive than previously realized.

中文翻译：

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产前和产后噪音直接损害鸟类的发育，对健康造成影响

噪音污染正以前所未有的速度扩大，并且与整个类群的繁殖和发育受损越来越相关。然而，噪音声波是否对正在发育的孩子本质上有害——或者只是打扰父母——以及早期接触噪音对健康的影响仍然未知。在这里，通过仅操纵后代，我们表明，斑胸草雀在生命早期仅暴露于噪音会对健康产生影响，并在暴露期间导致胚胎死亡。出生前和出生后接触交通噪音会逐渐损害雏鸟的生长和生理机能，并加剧整个生命阶段直至成年的端粒缩短。与长期的躯体影响一致，生命早期的噪音暴露，尤其是在产前，会降低整个成年期的个体后代的产量。我们的研究结果表明，噪音污染的影响比之前意识到的更为普遍。