Research overview: combined sensory pollution and the urban sensory landscape

Light and noise rarely act alone; in cities they combine with human presence to create a degraded sensory landscape that wildlife must navigate. This overview synthesises research treating sensory pollutants jointly, examining how artificial light and noise together reshape the perceived risk and resource landscape for carnivores, and the methodological challenge of disentangling their effects from one another and from physical disturbance. It considers how cumulative sensory pressure may compress the times and places usable by felids, compounding the constraints of roads and development. The synthesis frames the urban sensory environment as an integrated dimension of habitat quality for cats living near people.