Effects of phone mast-generated electromagnetic radiation gradient on the distribution of terrestrial birds and insects in a savanna protected area

2022 · Harm · Low evidence

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HarmLow evidencePaper 758

Wildlife diversity (birds and insects) significantly reduced with increasing phone mast-generated EMR strengths. Reductions were especially noted in areas <12 km from the phone mast with EMR levels greater than 250 ± 20 μA/m.

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2022

Study typeecological

Reported directionHarm

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Effects of phone mast-generated electromagnetic radiation gradient on the distribution of terrestrial birds and insects in a savanna protected area Nyirenda, V.R., Namukonde, N., Lungu, E.B. et al. Effects of phone mast-generated electromagnetic radiation gradient on the distribution of terrestrial birds and insects in a savanna protected area. Biologia (2022). doi.org Abstract Inappropriate deployment of linear physical infrastructures, such as game fences, roads, electric power-lines, buildings, and phone masts can be detrimental to wild fauna. Fatalities arising from wildlife collisions with such infrastructure have been widely documented. However, there are non-physical and less studied effects, such as the ‘hidden’ negative ecological effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) on terrestrial fauna. In this study, the effects of phone mast-generated EMR on abundance, richness and distribution of terrestrial birds and insects in the Kafue National Park were studied. Ten (10) sample plots of 100 m × 100 m each were set at three (3) radial locations, based on the phone mast generated EMR strengths. For birds, point counts, while hand collection, cryptic searching, vegetation beating, sweep netting, pitfall trapping, sorting and identification for insects were employed for data collection. Data were analysed using biological indices (i.e., Shannon-Wiener and Simpson’s) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The wildlife diversity significantly reduced with increasing EMR strengths, especially in areas (<12 km from phone mast) with greater than 250 ± 20 μA/m EMR levels. We suggest that deployment of wireless telecommunication infrastructure should take into account EMR levels, safe zones and avoid or minimize biological loss in hotspots. link.springer.com

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typeecological

Effect directionharm

PopulationTerrestrial birds and insects in Kafue National Park (savanna protected area)

Sample size10

ExposureNot supplied

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 74% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

Abundance (birds and insects)
Richness (birds and insects)
Distribution (birds and insects)
Diversity indices (Shannon-Wiener, Simpson’s)

Limitations

Frequency/band of EMR not reported in abstract
Observational/ecological design; potential confounding not described in abstract
Exposure metric reported as μA/m; measurement methods not described in abstract
Single protected area setting; generalizability unclear from abstract

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "ecological",
  "exposure": {
    "band": null,
    "source": "phone mast",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "Terrestrial birds and insects in Kafue National Park (savanna protected area)",
  "sample_size": 10,
  "outcomes": [
    "Abundance (birds and insects)",
    "Richness (birds and insects)",
    "Distribution (birds and insects)",
    "Diversity indices (Shannon-Wiener, Simpson’s)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Wildlife diversity (birds and insects) significantly reduced with increasing phone mast-generated EMR strengths. Reductions were especially noted in areas <12 km from the phone mast with EMR levels greater than 250 ± 20 μA/m.",
  "effect_direction": "harm",
  "limitations": [
    "Frequency/band of EMR not reported in abstract",
    "Observational/ecological design; potential confounding not described in abstract",
    "Exposure metric reported as μA/m; measurement methods not described in abstract",
    "Single protected area setting; generalizability unclear from abstract"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.74,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "phone mast",
    "electromagnetic radiation",
    "EMR gradient",
    "birds",
    "insects",
    "biodiversity",
    "species richness",
    "abundance",
    "distribution",
    "savanna",
    "protected area",
    "Kafue National Park"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "base-stations",
      "weight": 0.9,
      "reason": "Study assesses ecological effects of phone mast (cell base station) EMR gradient."
    }
  ]
}

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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1007/s11756-022-01113-8
PubMed: Not supplied

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