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Influence of electromagnetic radiation of mobile phone towers on the presence and behaviour of the house sparrow [Invloed van elektromagnetische straling van zendmasten op de aanwezigheid/ gedrag van huismus]
Contact: Everaert, Joris

Availability: Restricted
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Description
Op 150 verschillende puntlocaties in zes woonwijken werd het aantal aanwezige en/of zingende huismusmannetjes geteld. Tegelijkertijd werd de veldsterkte van elektromagnetische straling opgemeten. more

A possible effect of long-term exposure to low-intensity electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone (GSM) base stations on the number of House Sparrows during the breeding season was studied in six residential districts in Belgium. We sampled 150 point locations within the 6 areas to examine small-scale geographic variation in the number of House Sparrow males and the strength of electromagnetic radiation from base stations. Spatial variation in the number of House Sparrow males was negatively and highly significantly related to the strength of electric fields from both the 900 and 1800 MHz downlink frequency bands and from the sum of these bands (Chi2-tests and AIC-criteria, P < 0.001). This negative relationship was highly similar within each of the six study areas, despite differences among areas in both the number of birds and radiation levels. Thus, our data show that fewer House Sparrow males were seen at locations with relatively high electric field strength values of GSM base stations and therefore support the notion that long-term exposure to higher levels of radiation negatively affects the abundance or behavior of House Sparrows in the wild.

Scope
Keywords:
Terrestrial, Belgium, Oost-Vlaanderen (Province),

Geographical coverage
Belgium, Oost-Vlaanderen (Province) [Marine Regions]

Temporal coverage
9 April 2006 - 26 April 2006

Taxonomic coverage
Passer domesticus

Parameter
Electromagnetic field strength

Contributors
Vlaamse overheid; Beleidsdomein Leefmilieu, Natuur en Energie; Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek; Afdeling Advies en Informatie; Rapportering en Adviseringdata owner
Everaert, Joris
Vlaamse overheid; Beleidsdomein Omgeving; Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek (INBO), moredata owner

Dataset status: Completed
Data type: Data
Data origin: Research: field survey
Metadatarecord created: 2012-10-16
Information last updated: 2012-10-18
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