Road traffic noise impact assessment in a breeding colony of cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus) in Spain

Abstract

There is a global and growing concern with regard to anthropogenic noise impact on wildlife and natural habitats, but it is difficult to find consensus regarding scoping and assessment tools. This study adapts noise mapping procedures, common to most European countries, to a low traffic road (below 1000 vehicles per day) noise impact assessment in a breeding colony of the largest bird of prey in Europe. Results show that nest sites are located avoiding road traffic Leq levels higher than 40 dB. This means a road-effect zone of up to 500 m width from road margins, which previous scientific literature only refers in cases of traffic volumes higher than 10,000 vehicles per day. This finding is a noticeable impact by road traffic noise that reduces the breeding potential habitat more than 11% within the study area. This work shows the feasibility of expanding common methods and mapping tools for assessing and managing environmental noise in protected areas, which has worthwhile implications for both acoustics and conservation.

Influence of Anthropogenic Noise for Predicting Cinereous Vulture Nest Distribution

“…The direct loss refers to the reduction in the total area of an ecosystem caused by an anthropogenic impact, in this case road traffic disturbance [73]. Our second finding is coincident with the threshold found by Iglesias-Merchan et al [8] for the same species in a breeding population located in the nearby upper Lozoya river valley (Region of Madrid), which was crossed by two low-traffic forest roads (i.e., less than 1000 vehicles per day). Therefore, our work confirms that traffic noise Leq 24h levels higher than 40 dB may define a polygon around roads where cinereous vulture breeding does not occur, regardless of parameters such as traffic volume, local speed conditions and orography.…”

“…Thus it makes no sense to measure RoadD as such in the whole study context. A matter that can be addressed in a more realistic way by noise modeling [8]. Nests situated in La Acebeda Valley ( Figure 5) are not affected by being nearer or further from the road that is in Eresma Valley.…”

“…Road networks may contribute to the decrease in both the quantity and the quality of natural habitats, which is currently considered to be among the main factors threatening biodiversity [7,8]. Europe is particularly highly fragmented by transport infrastructure, which do not leave many natural areas unoccupied and constrain the effectiveness of conservation policies [9].…”

“…Thus, cinereous vulture is considered an umbrella species [24,25]. Cinereous vultures nest on mature trees in woods on slopes far away from human presence [8,26,27] and from roads [24,[28][29][30][31][32][33], since an important variable in the breeding success of this bird is the absence of any human disturbance [34]. Prior studies on the influence on nest site selection have assessed the effect of the roads in terms of the Euclidean distance to nest site locations [24,[28][29][30][31]35,36].…”

Sustainability in Forest Management Revisited Using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Techniques

“…Again, and aside from the significance of the Gini coefficient proposed here, which has been applied as an indicator of forest structural heterogeneity [115,116], we have attempted to define our own biodiversity criterion [117] that could be integrated into the LGP model. In fact, one of the objectives in the case study [118] is focussed on the conservation of the black vulture, an umbrella species [119], which is catalogued as "near threatened" at the global level [120]. For this reason, we pursue the possibility that, at the end of the planning horizon, there is a multi-aged forest.…”