Road Encroachment Near Protected Areas Alters the Natural Soundscape Through Traffic Noise Pollution in Costa Rica

Abstract

La invasión de caminos cerca de las áreas protegidas altera el paisaje natural sonoro debido a la contaminación del ruido por tránsito en Costa Rica Asistente:Sharon Rodríguez-Brenes Editorial:Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica (EUNA)Los artículos publicados se distribuye bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0) basada en una obra en http://www. revistas.una.ac.cr/ambientales., lo que implica la posibilidad de que los lectores puedan de forma gratuita descargar, almacenar, copiar y distribuir la versión final aprobada y publicada del artículo, siempre y cuando se mencione la fuente y autoría de la obra. 27Revista de Ciencias Ambientales (Trop J Environ Sci). (Enero-Junio, 2018 AbstractRoad networks are spatially disposed across landscapes and are differentially used by traffic, generating levels of noise that may negatively affect protected areas. The objective of this study is to quantify the length of road stretches in contact and in close proximity to protected areas, and to investigate differential effects parks may have in relation to traffic volumes and noise pollution. We measured road networks in proximity to protected areas using a geographic information system and the Atlas of Costa Rica. Noise and traffic volumes were quantified in three protected areas with direct adjacency with roads. We generated environmental sound maps to assess the influence of noise on natural sounds, such as those produced by streams (geophony) and birds (biophony). We recorded biophony close and far to the road in one of the protected areas. We found that 70 protected areas are directly or indirectly affected by road proximity. Noise was greater in roads with higher traffic usage than those with lower traffic usage, but the type of vehicles also influenced noise levels. Noise penetrated the forest with greater levels during the dry season than in the wet season. We found that the amount of biophony in seconds was lower close than far from the road, and that the stream sound was masked by traffic noise. Our results suggest that noise may contribute to habitat degradation through a decrease and loss of natural sounds, decreasing the quality of biodiversity protection. Interdisciplinary action and rigorous planning must be considered to avoid road encroachment on protected areas.Keywords: Anthrophony, biodiversity conservation, biophony, geophony, soundscape conservation, traffic volume. ResumenLas carreteras están espacialmente dispuestas en los paisajes y son utilizadas por el tránsito, generando ruido que puede afectar las áreas protegidas. El objetivo fue cuantificar los tramos de carretera, en contacto y en proximidad con áreas, e investigar los efectos que los parques pueden tener en relación con el tránsito y el ruido. Medimos tramos cercanos a las áreas utilizando el sistema de información geográfica y el Atlas de Costa Rica. El ruido y tránsito fueron cuantificados en tres áreas adyacentes a carreteras. Generamos mapas de ruido para evaluar la influencia sobre los soni...

Supplementary material 1 from: Ednie A, Gale T (2021) Soundscapes and protected area conservation: Are noises in nature making people complacent? Nature Conservation 44: 177-195. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.44.69578

“…For PAs in Aysén, and in other similar world regions where territorial transitions are being accelerated through new public works and infrastructure designed to provide better connectivity, access, and traffic flows, these types of participant ratings should raise important conservation concerns. Vehicles have been identified as one of the most problematic of the anthrophonic sound categories, as road encroachment in and around PAs has been shown to alter natural soundscapes and contribute to vehicular noise pollution (Mcdonald et al 2009;Francis et al 2017;Arévalo 2018;Buxton et al 2019). Gale et al (2018) identified increasing concern on the part of researchers and managers in Aysén who were worried about negative wildlife impacts associated with paving processes for the region's main roads that run adjacent or intersect several PAs.…”

Protected Area Zoning as a Strategy to Preserve Natural Soundscapes, Reduce Anthropogenic Noise Intrusion, and Conserve Biodiversity

“…Anthropogenic noise is a serious problem for many protected areas (Buxton et al., 2017; Francis et al., 2017), as it can have detrimental effects on natural soundscapes (Arévalo & Blau, 2018; Kaiser et al., 2011; Krause et al., 2011; Sun & Narins, 2005), biodiversity (Shannon, Angeloni, Wittemyer, Fristrup, & Crooks, 2014), and visitor experience (Iglesias-Merchan, Diaz-Balteiro, & Soliño, 2014; Manning, Newman, Fristrup, Stack, & Pilcher, 2010). Despite these adverse effects, there is a lack of legislation and monitoring of sounds levels and noise intrusion in protected areas (Arévalo & Blau, 2018; Burivalova et al., 2018; Krause et al., 2011, Shannon et al., 2016). The results of this study provide evidence of how PAZ can be implemented as a valuable strategy to minimize noise intrusion and how the type of zoning influences the soundscape composition and determines the amount and type of anthropogenic noises that occur.…”

“…For example, soundscape analysis can provide information about animal community composition (Aide, Herna´ndez-Serna, Campos-Cerqueira, Acevedo-Charry, & Deichmann, 2017;Campos-Cerqueira & Aide, 2017a;Farina & James, 2016;Krause & Farina, 2016) and its dynamics in urban areas (Fairbrass, Rennett, Williams, Titheridge, & Jones, 2017;Joo, Gage, & Kasten, 2011;Liu, Kang, Behm, & Luo, 2014) and natural areas (Burivalova et al, 2018;Krause, Gage, & Joo, 2011;Pekin, Jung, Villanueva-Rivera, Pijanowski, & Ahumada, 2012;Turner, Fischer, & Tzanopoulos, 2018;Tucker, Gage, Williamson, & Fuller, 2014). In addition, soundscapes have been used to evaluate the effects on fauna from high-noise levels associated with mining (Alvarez-Berr ıos et al, 2016;Duarte et al, 2015), natural gas exploitation , and vehicle traffic near protected areas (Are´valo & Blau, 2018;Munro, Williamson, & Fuller, 2018).…”

Vegetation, bird and soundscape characterization: a case study in Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica

“…Roads and their traffic can affect wildlife over large areas and, in regions with dense road networks, may influence a high proportion of the ecological landscape (Cooke et al, 2020a). In Costa Rica, for example, 41.2 % of the protected areas are directly or indirectly influenced by the effect of roads, and 532.52 km of roads are adjacent to, or less than 2 km away from protected areas (Arévalo & Blau, 2018).…”

“…For example, bird movements, abundance, occurrence, and richness have been negatively correlated with road exposure (Reijnen et al, 1997;Laurance et al, 2004;Herrera-Montes & Aide, 2011;Cooke et al, 2020b). In Costa Rica, the number of biophonies (measured as the seconds occupied by bird vocalizations) was significantly lower near the road in Carara National Park (Arévalo & Blau, 2018). This difference was probably related to decreased bird density where road noise was highest (Arévalo & Newhard, 2011).…”