20.500.12556/DiRROS-23864 Sensory pollutants have negative but different effects on nestbox occupancy and breeding performance of a nocturnal raptor across Europe Anthropogenic noise and artificial light at night (ALAN) are expanding globally, acting as pervasive sensory pollutants that can disrupt wildlife behaviour and reproduction. While most research has focused on diurnal species, the effects of these pollutants on the ecological response of nocturnal predators remain poorly understood. Using data from nine European countries, we investigated the effects of traffic noise, ALAN, and road proximity on nestbox occupancy and reproduction in the Tawny Owl (Strix aluco), a nocturnal raptor widespread across Europe. Traffic noise consistently reduced both nestbox occupancy and reproductive success regardless of road proximity. ALAN also impaired occupancy and reproduction, but its negative effect on reproduction changed based on the proximity to roads. Interestingly, the negative effect of ALAN was stronger in sites further from roads, but it attenuated in their proximity, where owls' hatching success and brood size moderately improved. This finding suggests that near roads, where prey abundance and availability are also generally high, owls may either find the prey regardless of ALAN or they may exploit it to facilitate hunting and brood provisioning. However, vicinity to roads might enhance mortality by vehicle collisions, which represents one of the greatest threats for the conservation of owls. Our findings highlight that anthropogenic noise and the co-occurrence between ALAN and roads can affect settlement decisions and breeding performance in nocturnal raptors, with potential consequences across the food chain. Mitigating anthropogenic noise and promoting nighttime-lighting systems that minimize owls' presence close to roads will represent valuable actions to improve their conservation. ALAN anthropogenic noise owls reproductive fitness roadside habitats raptor conservation conservation biology umetna svetloba cestna razsvetljava antropogeni hrup sove obcestna okolja varstvena biologija true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Neznano 2025-10-14 08:37:35 2025-10-14 08:37:36 2025-10-24 03:55:11 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 str. 1-12 [art. no.] ǂ111533 Vol. 313 Jan. 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-01-01 502/504 0006-3207 10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111533 253022211 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111533 1 4c0eca14-a8c8-11f0-9bb7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=35393 RAZ_Orlando_Giuseppe_2026.pdf RAZ_Orlando_Giuseppe_2026.pdf 1 995DE3B1D645FD7A9107AE101A3E7C78 30ef06e4ac6fda3864b8bfcaf27fd1a0b7ae06b1fae2262d833b433c26d244ab 5ca04e81-a8c8-11f0-9bb7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=35394 Nacionalni inštitut za biologijo 0 0 0