Telephone transmission towers have many negative effects on the Cloud Forest including disruption in the life cycle of animals living in the forest. “The waves may not affect big animals but they can kill insects,” said Samad Jalali, an expert at Shahroud’s Department of Environment (DoE).
With insects’ population declining, the number of birds which feed on them will also decline. Also the waves can disrupt navigation of migratory birds, by interfering with the birds’ “internal compass” which senses the Earth’s magnetic field and helps them find their way, Mehr News Agency reported. However, the birds won’t be completely lost because they have three different compasses: a star compass, a sun compass and a magnetic compass. As long as the weather is clear, they should be fine with their sunset compass or star compass.
