Evaluating anthropogenic noise impacts on animals in natural areas

Abstract

O_LINoise pollution is detrimental to a diversity of animal species and degrades natural areas, raising concern over the expanding footprint of anthropogenic noise on ecosystems. To guide management of noise sources, modeling tools have been developed to quantify noise levels across landscapes.\nC_LIO_LIWe demonstrate how to model anthropogenic noise using sound propagation models, including noise from point, line, and polygon sources. In addition, we demonstrate three ways of evaluating spatially-explicit noise impacts, by identifying where noise 1) exceeds a sound level threshold, 2) is audible, or 3) has the potential to mask species communications. Finally, we examine approaches to mitigate these noise impacts on animal species.\nC_LIO_LINoise sources in locations more favorable to sound propagation (e.g., locations with long, unobstructed lines-of-sight) will have a disproportionate impact on the surrounding area. We demonstrate how propagation models can identify sites with smaller acoustic footprints or sites that would benefit from additional noise-control measures.\nC_LIO_LIModeling decisions, such as choice of sound propagation model, sound source information, and the quality of the input data, strongly influence the accuracy of model predictions. These decisions can be guided by comparing model predictions to empirical data when it is available.\nC_LIO_LISynthesis and applications: Here, we demonstrate an approach for modeling and assessing anthropogenic noise sources across a landscape. Our versatile approach allows refining propagation outputs for species-specific questions as well as the quantitative evaluation of management alternatives. While the results are presented in the context of particular species, these approaches can be applied more generally to a wide range of taxa or used for multispecies assessments.\nC_LI