Study shows decreased seedlings and saplings years after removal of the noise source A piñon pine seedling counted during the researchers' vegetation surveys. April 27, 2021 Noise has a lasting effect on trees and plants, researchers recently found. A study by scientists at California Polytechnic State University reveals that human noise pollution affects the diversity of plant life in an ecosystem even after the noise has been removed. This is the first study that explores the long-term effects of noise on plant communities. It was published in The U.S. National Science Foundation research was conducted near natural gas wells in New Mexico, where noisy compressors are used to help produce natural gas. The researchers found that there were 75% fewer piñon pine seedlings in noisy sites than in quiet ones. The tree reduction was most likely the result of noise driving away a bird, the Woodhouse's scrub jay, that plants thousands of pine seeds while storing them to eat during the winter months.