Speaker
Description
Environmental noise of anthropogenic origin is increasingly recognized as a major threat to biodiversity in natural areas. These areas are often intersected by major highways, exposing large adjacent zones to road traffic noise. Current knowledge and guidelines on traffic noise mitigation are largely focused on human listeners. However, road traffic noise, outdoor sound propagation, mitigation measures, and auditory sensitivity of terrestrial animals are all strongly frequency dependent. As a result, their combined effect on animal sound exposure is far from straightforward. In this simulation study, the Harmonoise/Imagine sound propagation model—well suited to capturing the complex physics of sound propagation in natural environments—is used to predict sound exposure levels for a wide range of terrestrial animals. The simulations account for species-specific receiver heights and measured hearing threshold spectra. This approach allows a systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of various road traffic noise mitigation measures, including noise screens, natural berms, depressed road segments, local landscape depressions, and traffic management strategies such as vehicle speed reduction or bans on heavy vehicles, in reducing sound exposure for wildlife.