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Protected areas are typically managed as a network of sites exposed to varying anthropogenic conditions. Managing these networks benefits from monitoring of conditions across sites to help prioritize coordinated efforts. Monitoring marine vessel activity and related underwater radiated noise impacts across a network of protected areas, like the U.S. National Marine Sanctuary system, helps managers ensure the quality of habitats used by a wide range of marine species. Here, we use underwater acoustic detections of vessels to quantify different characteristics of vessel noise at 25 locations within eight marine sanctuaries including the Hawaiian Archipelago and the U.S. east and west coasts. Vessel noise metrics, including temporal presence and sound levels, were paired with Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel tracking data to derive a suite of robust vessel noise indicators for use across the network of marine protected areas. Network-wide comparisons revealed a spectrum of vessel noise conditions that closely matched AIS vessel traffic composition. Shifts in vessel noise were correlated with the decrease in vessel activity early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and vessel speed reduction management initiatives. Improving our understanding of vessel noise conditions in these protected areas can help direct opportunities for reducing vessel noise, such as establishing and maintaining noise-free periods, enhancing port efficiency, engaging with regional and international vessel quieting initiatives, and leveraging co-benefits of management actions for reducing ocean noise.

Matters of sound and listening are increasingly being attended to across the social sciences and humanities, reflecting what has been termed a ‘sonic turn’ since the early 2000s. In urban ethnographic research, scholars are starting to pay attention to the role of sound in social relations, in expressions of identity and senses of belonging, as well as in processes of othering. In this paper, we explore the theoretical and methodological opportunities of sonic urban ethnography, that is, an urban ethnography that foregrounds sound and listening in theoretical and methodological ways. We argue that the promise of sonic urban ethnography lies in its ability to interrupt the predominant focus on text and the visual by developing expanded practices of listening for alternative ways of knowing and engaging with the urban. We share four empirical vignettes from Shanghai, Berlin and London that illustrate, in their different ways, the power exercised through sound in the urban environment. Our discussion of the empirical cases highlights three key ‘lessons’ for doing sonic urban ethnography.

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is an effective, non-intrusive method for studying ecosystems, but obtaining meaningful ecological information from its large number of audio files is challenging. In this study, we take advantage of the expected animal behavior at different times of the day (e.g., higher acoustic animal activity at dawn) and develop a novel approach to use these time-based patterns. We organize PAM data into 24-hour temporal blocks formed with sound features from a pretrained VGGish network. These features feed a 1D convolutional neural network with a class activation mapping technique that gives interpretability to its outcomes. As a result, these diel-cycle blocks offer more accurate and robust hour-by-hour information than using traditional ecological acoustic indices as features, effectively recognizing key ecosystem patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural tourism is perceived as an escape from noisy urban settings to tranquil rural environments to improve tourist well-being. However, the dynamics of how tourists engage with and benefit from rural soundscapes, particularly at night when visual stimuli diminish and auditory experiences become more pronounced, remain underexplored. This article investigates the effects of rural soundscapes on tourist well-being throughout different periods of the day. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study reveals that tourists' experiences of therapeutic rural soundscapes are relational and contextual. Therapeutic rural soundscapes are primarily experienced during nighttime, facilitated by the absence of visual distractions and man-made sounds and the presence of familiar natural and rural sounds, alongside a prevailing sense of safety in the silence and darkness. Nevertheless, the majority of tourists are one-day visitors and thus largely excluded from these therapeutic soundscape experiences, which are overshadowed by visual attractions and the intrusion of man-made sounds. The findings advance the theory of therapeutic sensescapes by revealing the interplay between the senses of vision and hearing in shaping tourists' safety perceptions and well-being experiences in rural destinations. This study also offers practical implications for enhancing the appeal of rural destinations by improving tourists' auditory experiences across diverse spatio-temporal contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores the soundscape of the Besalen space in making the Penclon gamelan, a traditional Indonesian musical instrument. Using a qualitative approach and case study method, this research aims to understand how the sounds produced during the gamelan making process, as well as the interaction between the maker and the environment, influence the final characteristics of the Penclon gamelan. The research was conducted at the Besalen Purbalaras gamelan making workshop in the Cisaranten area, Bandung City. The results show that the soundscape of the Besalen room plays an important role in determining the sound quality of the gamelan and reflects local cultural traditions and practices. These findings offer new insights into the relationship between the acoustic environment and the gamelan creation process, as well as their contribution to the preservation of cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning approaches for pattern recognition are increasingly popular. However, the underlying algorithms are often not open source, may require substantial data for model training, and are not geared toward specific tasks. We used open-source software to build a green toad breeding call detection algorithm that will aid in field data analysis. We provide instructions on how to reproduce our approach for other animal sounds and research questions. Our approach using 34 green toad call sequences and 166 audio files without green toad sounds had an accuracy of 0.99 when split into training (70%) and testing (30%) datasets. The final algorithm was applied to amphibian sounds newly collected by citizen scientists. Our function used three categories: "Green toad(s) detected", "No green toad(s) detected", and "Double check". Ninety percent of files containing green toad calls were classified as "Green toad(s) detected", and the remaining 10% as "Double check". Eighty-nine percent of files not containing green toad calls were classified as "No green toad(s) detected", and the remaining 11% as "Double check". Hence, none of the files were classified in the wrong category. We conclude that it is feasible for researchers to build their own efficient pattern recognition algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The restorative effects of soundscapes on human physical and mental well-being are widely recognized, but their effectiveness is influenced by various factors, including external environments and individual characteristics. Despite being a crucial element in environmental experience, the role of individual behavior in the restorative effects of soundscapes has been insufficiently studied. To address this research gap, we conducted a survey in five parks in Fuzhou, China, using questionnaires to assess visitors' evaluations of soundscape characteristics, their soundscape restorative experiences, and behavioral characteristics. A total of 419 valid responses were collected. Using these data, we employed a structural equation model and conditional process analysis to explore the interaction between visitor behavior and soundscape experiences. The results show that soundscapes with pleasantness and eventfulness promote static behaviors to a certain degree, while dynamic behaviors are influenced solely by eventfulness soundscapes. In the process by which soundscape characteristics influence restorative experiences, static behavior is the only mediating factor, accounting for 8% of the total effect. Additionally, increased visit intensity enhances the impact of pleasantness soundscape on restorative experiences while weakening the mediating effect of static behavior. These findings provide strong support for relevant design considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban natural parks represent a remarkable concept that evokes the coexistence of human habitation with a wild environment, and the associated interactions between human and natural territories. In this context, urban noise infringes upon the natural soundscape, leading to various consequences for both realms. This study seeks to characterize the impact of anthropic noise levels on biodiversity in the urban natural Văcărești Park (Bucharest, Romania), utilizing on-site measurements and software simulation techniques. The study seeks to develop a method for evaluating integrative strategies to mitigate the impact of traffic noise on wildlife in an urban wild park, without addressing the specific effects of noise on the perception and communication of individual species. By calibrating field measurements with laboratory results, a more reliable data set will be used to identify areas where the biophonic environment is impacted by anthropogenic noise. Since human-generated noise in an urban natural park predominantly originates from road traffic and industrial sites, managing traffic noise and its propagation pathways could substantially improve the park's soundscape. Additionally, this study will apply software simulations for noise reduction strategies, such as vegetation planting and earthen embankments, to obtain suitable solutions and propose plausible and effective actions to authorities for improving the biophonic environment. This research could also serve as the basis for long-term monitoring, allowing for the assessment of the evolution and impact of implemented measures over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Urban Research is the property of Journal of Urban Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Kotagede, the capital of the ancient Mataram Kingdom and currently an area in the Yogyakarta Province of Indonesia, is known as a 'real living museum'. It was previously a residential area with many vital premises and heritage buildings that became a tourist area. Its locally established activities enrich the visual and sound environment of the vicinity. However, it has gradually lost its distinguishing sounds. A series of studies aims to improve the possibility of restoring past soundmarks to preserve the intangible heritage and make living museums as rich as possible. This paper reports the initial stage of the series, which focuses on capturing the rich historical sounds of Kotagede. The study was carefully designed to collect comprehensive data on heritage sounds using qualitative methods consisting of an initial focus group discussion (FGD), in-depth interviews, and a final FGD. These methods resulted in a large amount of data that were processed and classified using the descriptive phenomenology approach with the Colaizzi protocol. The study found that Kotagede has various soundmarks grouped into local and outside sounds. The locally rooted sounds can be grouped into eight categories, some of which can be extended as past and present sounds and a few that have persisted from the past to the present. In the subsequent stage, this classification and local leaders' concerns helped the researchers select and prioritise sounds for preservation and tourism purposes. The study emphasises the importance of choosing suitable participants to provide detailed and comprehensive information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the Santos Basin Underwater Soundscape Monitoring Project (PMPAS-BS), a Brazilian ocean soundscape monitoring initiative. The main objective of the project is to quantify and assess hydroacoustic noise of anthropogenic origin in a large sedimentary basin extending from 23° S to 28° S on the southeastern Brazilian continental margin of the South Atlantic Ocean. Noise associated with oil and gas (O&G) exploration and production activities is the primary target, but this oceanic region also has busy shipping lanes for commercial, military, and fishing vessels. The two main hubs of Brazil’s export and import of goods by sea are located in this region: Santos and Rio de Janeiro ports. The project has three measurement components: mobile monitoring based on gliders and drifting acoustic profilers, fixed shallow-water monitoring based on acoustic measurements at coastal stations near shipping lanes associated with exploration and production activities in the Santos Basin, and fixed oceanic monitoring based on deep-water mooring lines equipped with passive autonomous acoustic recorders near production units, shipping lanes, and areas with lower intensity of O&G activities (pristine or reference sites). Numerical modeling of anthropogenic underwater acoustic noise has also been included as a fourth project component. The PMPAS-BS covers an area of more than 251,000 km² and uses several instruments with different methods and sensors for acoustic measurements. Its results provide current sound levels over a very large region of the western South Atlantic, both in areas more and less affected by anthropogenic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giovanni Pontano's dialogue Antonius can be read almost as a thick description of the soundscape of a Neapolitan street in the mid‐ to late‐15th century, complete with public announcements, street performers, domestic arguments, workers' banter, charms and spells, processions, errand boys, bells, clocks, cockerels, and much more. Antonius was first printed in 1491, and then in a 1501 Opera edition alongside another dialogue, Charon, Pontano's treatises De fortitudine, De principe and De obedientia, and his treatises on the "social virtues," De liberalitate, De benificentia, De magnificentia, De splendore, and De conviventia. Using the street soundscape of Antonius as a framework, this essay interleaves both sonic reportage and reflections on the ethics and purpose of sound drawn from the other works included in the 1501 edition, to construct a rich and surprisingly detailed impression of the urban soundscape as it struck Pontano, or at least as he represented it in a literary context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The writer muses on a past life in which piobaireachd – the most serious and complicated form of highland bagpipe music – played an important role in educating her literary sensibility. She now wonders if it is for this reason – the echo of the pipes' sound and scale still playing in her imagination – that she finds it hard to hear the music in Burns's poetry. She poses the question: Can a poet be said to be speaking for a nation when aspects of that nation are absent from his scale and sensibility? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

تتناول هذه الورقة البحثية البعد الصوتي لمدن الواحات وتوضح كيف ان الصوت العمراني يمكن ان يعزز ديناميكية جماعية، مما يمكن فريقًا متعدد التخصصات من العمل معاً من أجل وضع تصور مستقبلي للواحات مستمداً من تراثها الثقافي. تقع مدن الواحات في قلب الصحراء وتعتمد على نسيج عمراني قديم مصمم لإنشاء مناخات محلية مكتفية ذاتيًا. الشوارع الضيقة والمتعرجة، والموجهة لتقليل التعرض للشمس، تمتد عبر المدينة. يُظهر هذا النمط العمراني التقليدي للواحات تكيف الإنسان مع البيئة المناخية القاسية. ومع ذلك، فإن التطور الحديث، الذي يركز على نماذج موحدة للتصميم يهدد التوازن البيئي والاجتماعي لهذه المدن. يفترض البحث أن الراحة الحرارية لا تنشأ فقط من التشكيل العمراني والقياسات الحرارية، ولكن تنبع أيضا من الممارسات الاجتماعية التي تكيف هذا العمران مع المناخ القاسي. ولهذا يقدم البحث مفهوم نظري جديد وهو الأجواء العمرانية (urban ambiances) وهو مفهوم فرنسي يتناول الجوانب الحسية والشعورية والوجدانية للفراغ. تستخدم الدراسة نهجًا صوتيًا لتحديد مجموعة من المواقف العمرانية urban situations التي تجمع بين الشكل العمراني والممارسات الاجتماعية والظواهر الحسية. يناقش المؤلفون نتائج ورش العمل الجماعية التي تمت في 2015 في تزنيت بالمغرب وفي 2016 في نفطة بتونس كجزء من مشروع ZERKA الذي يدرس الواحات في حوض البحر المتوسط. التسجيلات الصوتية التي تم جمعها خلال البحث متاحة على منصة Cartophonies التابعة لمختبر CRESSON، مما يوفر تجربة صوتية للقارئ وتنشئ أرشيف صوتي للمدن التي تشهد تحولات عمرانية كبيرة تهدد باختفاء بعض الظواهر الصوتية التي تمثل جزء من التراث الثقافي للمدن. This paper explores how soundscape approaches can foster a collective dynamic, enabling a multidisciplinary team to reimagine the future of the oasis cities. It provides a new perspective for studying the microclimate of these unique settlements, which pose significant challenges for urban planning. Nestled within the desert, oasis cities rely on an ancient urban fabric designed to create self-sustaining microclimates. This traditional oasis urbanism demonstrates human adaptation to a harsh environment. However, modern development, with its focus on standardized designs and efficiency, threatens the ecological and social balance of these settlements. The research postulates that comfort arises from both the thermal regulations of the specific architecture and the social practices that adapt to the harsh climate. It introduces the concept of ambiance, addressing the sensory and experiential aspects of spaces. The study focuses more on a sonic approach to define urban situations that combine urban form, social practices, and sensory phenomena. The authors discuss collective experiences conducted pn 2015 in Tiznit, Morocco, and in 2016 in Nefta, Tunisia, as part of the ZERKA project funded by the Envimed program.The outcomes published in this research examine both fieldwork approaches and the theoritical reflections they inspired during the project. The sonic recordings are available on the CRESSON laboratory's Cartophonies platform, providing an immersive soundscape experience and creating a sonic archive for cities undergoing transformation.

In the field of urban design assessment, increasing attention to the nonexpert verbalizations is paid to engage social participation in planning processes, especially those not limited to static visual renderings. However, little has been explored on reproducible methods to collect these vocabularies and their relationship with architectural features. This study presents a hierarchical multifactor analysis to extract the main perceptual nonexpert clusters; and a linear correlation analysis to relate them with 2D isovist measures. In an on-line experiment, participants (n=20n=20) elicited individual attributes (n=120n=120) to describe their soundscape and visual perception and compared recorded urban environments (n=8n=8). The results show that a percentage of nonexpert audio attributes correlate as well as the visual ones with isovist metrics.

Abstract Kotagede, the capital of the ancient Mataram Kingdom and currently an area in the Yogyakarta Province of Indonesia, is known as a ‘real living museum’. It was previously a residential area with many vital premises and heritage buildings that became a tourist area. Its locally established activities enrich the visual and sound environment of the vicinity. However, it has gradually lost its distinguishing sounds. A series of studies aims to improve the possibility of restoring past soundmarks to preserve the intangible heritage and make living museums as rich as possible. This paper reports the initial stage of the series, which focuses on capturing the rich historical sounds of Kotagede. The study was carefully designed to collect comprehensive data on heritage sounds using qualitative methods consisting of an initial focus group discussion (FGD), in-depth interviews, and a final FGD. These methods resulted in a large amount of data that were processed and classified using the descriptive phenomenology approach with the Colaizzi protocol. The study found that Kotagede has various soundmarks grouped into local and outside sounds. The locally rooted sounds can be grouped into eight categories, some of which can be extended as past and present sounds and a few that have persisted from the past to the present. In the subsequent stage, this classification and local leaders' concerns helped the researchers select and prioritise sounds for preservation and tourism purposes. The study emphasises the importance of choosing suitable participants to provide detailed and comprehensive information.

Eclipse Sound, in the northeastern Canadian Arctic, has experienced a substantial increase in ship traffic due to growing tourism and industrial development in the region. This study aims to describe the natural soundscape as well as to assess the noise levels associated with shipping. Underwater sound recordings were collected at two locations: Eastern Eclipse Sound (72° 43.730 N, 76° 13.519 W, 670 m) leading to Baffin Bay, and Milne Inlet (72° 15.260 N, 80° 34.205 W, 313 m) situated near the southwest end of Eclipse Sound. To capture the dynamic nature of the soundscape, the data from these two locations were divided into three seasons: late spring, summer, and early fall. These periods were selected to account for the changing contribution of sea ice to the soundscape during the sea ice break-up, two months of open water, and the sea ice freeze-up. By analyzing ship tracks and underwater acoustic recordings, we identified patterns of ship traffic and estimated underwater noise levels due to ships. Noise emitted by ships is quantified by vessel type, including three cargo ship types, passenger ships, pleasure craft, and icebreakers. Individual ship transits through the region introduce transient noise at frequencies from 20 kHz, with durations lasting from a few minutes to >6 h. The impact of ship noise on the soundscape is significant, resulting in increases in sound levels by 15 to >30 dB when ships are within 10 km and measurable ship noise below 200 Hz at distances of >50 km.

The Gulf toadfish (Opsanus beta) is a soniferous and abundant species native to Gulf of Mexico estuarine environments—now considered a likely invasive species in coastal Brazil. Males produce distinctive boatwhistle calls during their reproduction behaviors, offering an acoustic cue for ecological functions such as mate selection, prey detection, and predator avoidance. Their calls can also be readily detected with passive acoustics to monitor Gulf toadfish distributions and serve as acoustic indicators for their preferred nesting habitats. In this study, we describe the spatial, annual, seasonal, monthly, daily, daytime, and diel variation of Gulf toadfish call occurrence in Cedar Key, Florida (USA), with multiple sampling efforts at seagrass and dock sampling locations in the years 2019–2022. From April through June during our dock sampling, calls were detected across almost all our sampled dates and often every hour of the day, with daily and diel fluctuations in call occurrence. In our seagrass meadow sampling, call occurrence showed some positive correlation with manatee grass (Syringodium filiforme) and salinity. Moreover, snapshot recordings as short as 5 min were sufficient to detect calls in 37 of our 45 sampling events compared to only five where trawls captured Gulf toadfish. Our findings demonstrate the efficacy of listening to Gulf toadfish calls for monitoring applications and can support future efforts seeking to understand the availability of a prevalent acoustic cue in estuarine soundscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attuned to sonic, aesthetic, and sensory modes of experience, and directed particularly to explore the implications of sound as it informs political thought and actions, in 2021, I began investigating Jerusalem’s soundscape. Following Jean-Luc Nancy’s argument that our perception is impacted by the subjectivity of listening, I invited a group of Palestinian and Israeli artists to work with me on this project, hoping to capture the multiple soundscapes this city offers to its residents, visitors, and passers-by. In this essay, I examine two of the group's projects: “Listening Walks in Jerusalem,” an online sonic archive open for anyone to listen to and download; and “Scores for Social Acoustics in Jerusalem,” an anthology of suggested listening paths in the city. I suggest that these artistic acts succeeded in capturing a range of sonic experiences of Jerusalem and may even have gone beyond Nancy’s words to provide tangible methods for listening to a sound event and hearing it (almost) the same.

Passive acoustic monitoring of soundscapes and biodiversity produces vast amounts of audio recordings, but the management and analyses of these raw data present technical challenges. A multitude of software solutions exist, but none can fulfil all purposes required for the management, processing, navigation, and analysis of acoustic data. The field of ecoacoustics needs a software tool that is free, evolving, and accessible. We take a step in that direction and present ecoSound-web: an open-source, online platform for ecoacoustics designed and built by ecologists and software engineers. ecoSound-web can be used for storing, re-sampling, organising, analysing, and sharing soundscape recording or metadata projects. Specifically, it allows manual annotation of soniferous animals and soundscape components, automatic annotation with deep-learning models for all birds and for UK bat species, peer-reviewing annotations, analysing audio in time and frequency dimensions, computing alpha acoustic indices, and providing reference sound libraries for different taxa. We present ecoSound-web’s structure and features, and describe its operation for typical use cases such as sampling bird and bat communities, using a primate call library, and the analysis of soundscape components and acoustic indices. ecoSound-web is available from: https://github.com/ecomontec/ecoSound-web

Coral reefs are biodiverse marine ecosystems that are undergoing rapid changes, making monitoring vital as we seek to manage and mitigate stressors. Healthy reef soundscapes are rich with sounds, enabling passive acoustic recording and soundscape analyses to emerge as cost-effective, long-term methods for monitoring reef communities. Yet most biological reef sounds have not been identified or described, limiting the effectiveness of acoustic monitoring for diversity assessments. Machine learning offers a solution to scale such analyses but has yet to be successfully applied to characterize the diversity of reef fish sounds. Here we sought to characterize and categorize coral reef fish sounds using unsupervised machine learning methods. Pulsed fish and invertebrate sounds from 480 min of data sampled across 10 days over a 2-month period on a US Virgin Islands reef were manually identified and extracted, then grouped into acoustically similar clusters using unsupervised clustering based on acoustic features. The defining characteristics of these clusters were described and compared to determine the extent of acoustic diversity detected on these reefs. Approximately 55 distinct calls were identified, ranging in centroid frequency from 50 Hz to 1,300 Hz. Within this range, two main sub-bands containing multiple signal types were identified from 100 Hz to 400 Hz and 300 Hz-700 Hz, with a variety of signals outside these two main bands. These methods may be used to seek out acoustic diversity across additional marine habitats. The signals described here, though taken from a limited dataset, speak to the diversity of sounds produced on coral reefs and suggest that there might be more acoustic niche differentiation within soniferous fish communities than has been previously recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cocktail party problem refers to people’s auditory scene analysis in the complex auditory scene of everyday life in acoustics, which has also been addressed in modern literature. In this article, I define the literary cocktail party as a literary soundscape characterised by noise, with the dynamics of attention motivating its sound events and overall material relationality. Taking Virginia Woolf’s Between the Acts as an example, this article analyses how the interaction of words and sounds works with the dynamics of passive and active attention – two types of attention working in the bottom-up and top-down neural processes of the brain respectively. In different stages of the literary cocktail party, the development of sound events incorporates sonic materiality into the understanding of literary form, promotes the literary effect of defamiliarisation and creates relations in the soundscape. In the end, the article proposes ‘dip listening’ as a productive listening method for modern literary soundscape that is capable of not only generating an embodied sense of epiphany in daily experience but also creates the betweenness among various agencies in a shared tiredness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Male anurans attract conspecific females for reproduction by giving advertisement calls. As calling implies high energetic costs, theory predicts that in mixed-species assemblages call features differ among species to reduce acoustic interference. Each species occupies a distinct acoustic niche in the soundscape. In equatorial wetlands water bodies for reproduction are available all over the year, therefore, we expect that diel and seasonal partitioning of acoustic space should be less important than differences in call structure to reduce competition and niche overlap. Additionally, acoustic communities should be species-saturated. We tested these predictions in four communities at 2546–3188 m a.s.l. in the Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Using automated recording devices from September 2019 to March 2020, we obtained an extensive dataset on call activity. The communities included 4–6 species, depending on the wetland structure, with a common stock of three species (Hyperolius castaneus, H. glandicolor, Leptopelis kivuensis). Independent of elevation, niche breadth for call features was similar and overlap reduced by partitioning the frequency range used. The diel and seasonal niche breadth of specific call activity varied according to the local temperature regime at different altitudes. We conclude that stochastic niche theory describes accurately the processes shaping equatorial highland communities. The soundscape is a complex arrangement of sounds originating from animals and the environment. It is considered a reliable proxy for ecosystem niche structure at the community level. Acoustic communities of anuran species include advertising males, which compete in acoustic space for conspecific females. Stochastic niche theory predicts that all local niches are occupied, and the acoustic community is species-saturated. Acoustic niches, which include the spectral and temporal call structure and diel and seasonal patterns of call activity, are of similar breadth with small overlap. We tested these predictions in four communities inhabiting pristine wetlands at 2546–3188 m a.s.l. in the Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. We sampled 74 days of hourly 5 min recordings of the local soundscape (September 2019–March 2020) using passive automated monitoring devices (Songmeter SM4). We identified species based on the advertisement call features and measured call activity as calls per minute. The communities included 4–6, species depending on wetland structure, with a shared stock of three species (Hyperolius castaneus, H. glandicolor, Leptopelis kivuensis). Independent of elevation, niche breadth for call features was similar among species and overlap reduced by partitioning the frequency range used. The diel and seasonal niche breadth of specific call activity varied according to the local temperature regime at different altitudes representing the variable part of the acoustic niche. We conclude that communities are indeed species-saturated and acoustic niches differ primarily by the fixed call features remaining locally adaptable by the modulation of the call activity pattern, corroborating the predictions of the stochastic niche theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Location Methods Results Main Conclusions Mountain ecosystems are hotspots of biodiversity due to their high variation in climate and habitats. Yet, above average rates of climate change and enhanced forest disturbance regimes alter local climatic conditions and vegetation structure, which should impact biodiversity. We here investigated the impact of vegetation and elevation as well as their interactions on bird communities to improve our ability to predict climate change effects on bird communities.European Alps, Germany.We studied patterns and drivers of bird communities at 213 plots along gradients in vegetation density and elevation using autonomous sound recorders. Bird species were identified from soundscapes by Convolutional Neural Networks (BirdNET) and taxonomists.Bird diversity and community metrics were moderately to strongly correlated for data based on either identification by BirdNET or taxonomists (Pearson's r = .47–.94), and ecological findings were overall similar for both datasets. Vegetation density 1–2 m and >2 m above ground strongly affected bird diversity and community composition and mediated effects of elevation. Community composition changed with elevation more strongly in habitats with low than high vegetation density >2 m. Species numbers decreased with elevation in habitats with low vegetation density 1–2 m and >2 m above ground, but increased in habitats with high vegetation density. Overall, functional and phylogenetic diversity increased with elevation indicating lower habitat filtering, but patterns were also mediated by vegetation density.Our results indicate that bird communities in the German Alps are determined by strong interactive effects of elevation and vegetation, underlining the importance to consider variation in vegetation in studies of biodiversity patterns along elevational gradients and under climate change. Combining remote sensing data and biodiversity monitoring based on autonomous sampling and AI‐based species identification opens new avenues for bird monitoring and research in remote areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that ecosystems are composed of sounds created by geophysical events (e.g., wind, rain), animal behaviors (e.g., dawn songbird chorus), and human activities (e.g., tourism) that depend on seasonal climate conditions, the phenological patterns of a soundscape could be coupled with long-term weather station data as a complimentary ecological indicator of climate change. We tested whether the seasonality of the soundscape coincided with common weather variables used to monitor climate. We recorded ambient sounds hourly for five minutes (01 January-30 June) over three years (2019-2021) near a weather-station in a subarctic ecosystem in south-central Alaska. We quantified sonic information using the Acoustic Complexity Index (ACItf), coupled with weather data, and used machine learning (TreeNet) to identify sonic-climate relationships. We grouped ACItf according to time periods of prominent seasonal events (e.g., days with temperatures >0°C, no snow cover, green up, dawn biophony, and road-based tourism) and identified distinct sonic phenophases (sonophases) for groups with non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals. In general, sonic activity increased dramatically as winter transitioned to spring and summer. We identified two winter sonophases, a spring sonophase, and a summer sonophase, each coinciding with hours of daylight, temperature, precipitation, snow cover, and the prevalence of animal and human activities. We discuss how sonophases and weather data combined serve as a multidimensional, systems-based approach to understanding the ecological effects of climate change in subarctic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multilingualism in post-Soviet countries where as a result of the Soviet time migration and Russification, Russian speakers still constitute a significant part of population, presents an interesting case for analysis. Estonia, being officially a monolingual country with quite strict language policy, is extremely linguistically diverse in terms of actual everyday communication, with both Russian and English playing a significant role. Moreover, as Estonia attracts many foreign visitors, expats, and refugees, other languages, including Ukrainian, also become more and more noticeable in both visual and acoustic form in public spaces. However, spatial distribution of different languages in urban landscapes varies significantly, and by analyzing it one can reveal not only the patterns of language use but also power relations between different linguistic, ethnic, and social groups. The paper reports on preliminary results of a study conducted in Tallinn in 2022–2023 and focused on collecting and comparing data on both linguistic landscapes and soundscapes in several locations in the city. The study shows a mismatch between visual linguistic representation and actual linguistic diversity and tries to contemplate it in a broader historical context of multilingualism and language contacts in the Baltic region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Eco-acoustic indices allow us to rapidly evaluate habitats and ecosystems and derive information about anthropophonic impacts. However, it is proven that indices' values and trends are not comparable between studies. These incongruences may be caused by the availability on the market of recorders with different characteristics and costs. Thus, there is a need to reduce these biases and incongruences to ensure an accurate analysis and comparison between soundscape ecology studies and habitat assessments. In this study, we propose and validate an audio recording equalization protocol to reduce eco-acoustic indices' biases, by testing three soundscape recorder models: Song Meter Micro, Soundscape Explorer Terrestrial and Audiomoth. The equalization process aligns the signal amplitude and frequency response of the soundscape recorders to those of a type 1 level meter. The adjustment was made in MATLAB R2023a using a filter curve generated comparing a reference signal (white noise); the measurements were performed in an anechoic chamber using 11 audio sensors and a type 1 sound level meter (able to produce a.WAV file). The statistical validation of the procedure was performed on recordings obtained in an urban and Regional Park (Italy) assessing a significant reduction in indices' biases on the Song Meter Micro and Audiomoth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2020 Environmental Noise in Europe report shows that a vast majority of European countries have legal definitions of quiet areas and criteria for their designation. As much as 60% of them have designated at least one quiet area in their territory and have taken measures to protect the acoustic climate in these areas. In Poland, although the instrument was introduced in the national environmental legislation, guidelines for delimitation have not been defined yet in the form of a binding legal act. The objective of this article is to propose the method for identifying quiet areas through spatial analysis and present it on the example of two cities—Radom and Lublin. These cities represent different approaches to the designation of quiet areas. This work is a continuation of the survey conducted and published by the authors in 2023. At the outset, the legislation and literature on the subject were analysed. Based on that, the conditions that potential quiet areas must meet were determined. Spatial analyses were then conducted for the quiet areas proposed earlier in the survey and in the environmental noise programme to see if the criteria selected by the authors were actually met in these areas: acoustic, functional, related to land cover, size, as well as temporal, spatial and transport accessibility, and location, including distances from areas with the highest noise emissions and adequate population density. Quiet areas are forest areas, public green areas, and surface water areas with recreational functions. The criteria for the elimination of the selected quiet areas were mainly location related (distance from main roads and population density). The accessibility of the quiet areas is also important. A method devised by the authors enables the delimitation of quiet areas in cities. Furthermore, this method is primarily based on publicly available data, which makes it applicable to other cities as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing interest in accurately evaluating urban soundscapes to reflect citizens' subjective perceptions of acoustic comfort. Various indices have been proposed in the literature to achieve this purpose. However, many of these methods necessitate specialized equipment or extensive data collection. This study introduces an enhanced predictor for dwelling acoustic comfort, utilizing cost-effective data consisting of a 30-s audio clip and location information. The proposed predictor incorporates two rating systems: a binary evaluation and an acoustic comfort index called ACI. The training and evaluation data are obtained from the "Sons al Balcó" citizen science project. To characterize the sound events, gammatone cepstral coefficients are used for automatic sound event detection with a convolutional neural network. To enhance the predictor's performance, this study proposes incorporating objective noise levels from public IoT-based wireless acoustic sensor networks, particularly in densely populated areas like Barcelona. The results indicate that adding noise levels from a public network successfully enhances the accuracy of the acoustic comfort prediction for both rating systems, reaching up to 85% accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst rapid societal changes and increasing urbanization, human connectivity with nature has declined, exacerbating public health concerns. This study assesses the efficacy of Shinrin-yoku, or 'forest bathing', in Wuyishan National Park as a simple and effective method to counteract the adverse health effects of contemporary lifestyles. Employing repeated-measures analysis of variance, forty-one participants were observed over three days across eight distinct forest settings. Techniques included eye-tracking for visual attention and soundscape perception assessments via questionnaires. Physiological responses were gauged through heart rate variability and skin conductance, while psychological evaluations utilized the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Findings revealed that (1) natural soundscapes—especially birdsong, flowing water, wind, and bamboo raft sounds—and visual elements, such as distant mountains, streams, trees, Danxia landforms, tea gardens, and bamboo views, play pivotal roles in regulating heart rate variability, reducing arousal, and enhancing stress adaptation. Additionally, cultural landscapes, such as classical music and ancient structures, bolster parasympathetic activity. (2) Natural and cultural auditory stimuli, including flowing water and classical music, coupled with visual features, such as Danxia landforms, streams, distant mountains, lawns, and guide signs, effectively induce positive mood states, regulate mood disturbances, and enhance psychological well-being across diverse forest settings. These findings underscore the significant health benefits of immersive natural experiences and advocate for integrating forest-based wellness programs into public health strategies, offering compelling evidence for enriching life quality through nature engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Soundscape in dental clinics has varying degrees of impact on the emotions of healthcare workers and young patients. Emotions such as restlessness, anxiety, anger, and nervousness are commonly found among dental healthcare workers. Pediatric dental clinics are an important part of dental clinics, but there is a lack of research on the soundscape within pediatric dental clinics. Methods: This study focuses on a typical pediatric dental clinic, using a combination of field questionnaires and objective measurements. It aims to determine the impact of dominant sound sources on the emotional perception (nervousness, restlessness, anger, fear, pain) and hostile emotional responses of users in the pediatric dental clinic. Results: In the soundscape of pediatric dental clinics for young pediatric patients, users experience negative emotional perceptions (nervousness, restlessness, anxiety, anger, fear, and pain) and emotional responses of hostility. The dominant sound sources can be divided into two categories: dental (dental drill, air-water syringe, and saliva ejector) and nondental (children crying). Under the influence of dental dominant sound sources, there was a significant negative correlation between the emotional perceptions of healthcare workers and their negative emotional perceptions (p  <  0.05). Conversely, for young pediatric patients aged 0–11  years, a significant positive correlation was observed between their emotional perceptions and negative emotional perceptions. The mean perceived degrees of nervousness and fear in young pediatric patients were 1.82 and 1.71 times stronger, respectively, than those observed in healthcare workers. Under the influence of non-dental dominant sound sources, the average degree of emotional perception among healthcare workers was 0.71 higher than that of young pediatric patients, and anxiety perception was significantly enhanced (p  <  0.05). The mean degree of nervousness perception was 1 point higher in healthcare workers compared to young pediatric patients, restlessness perception was 1.1 stronger, and there was a presence of mild pain perception. In terms of demographic/social factors, age, occupation, and years of work significantly affected the perceptions of fear and restlessness among healthcare workers, while age had a significant impact on the emotional reaction of hostility in young pediatric patients. Discussion: The results of this study indicate that the soundscape is an important factor in creating a comfortable treatment environment in pediatric dental clinics. Healthcare workers and young pediatric patients are significantly affected by the dominant sound sources in the clinic, and these effects are closely related to demographic and social factors such as age, profession, and years of experience. This finding can provide more targeted methods and strategies for the design and creation of soundscapes in dental clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Audio recording interviews, focus groups, and naturally occurring interactions have been utilised by social researchers for decades. Yet, the use of audio recordings as a tool to elicit participant responses has received less attention in social science research. This is despite heightened interest in non-traditional techniques such as the use of visual methodologies, and arts-based methods. In this article, I describe how I advanced a known method, vignettes, into an audio narrative to explore perceptions of sex work. This article reports on the methodological rationale for the novel use of audio vignettes, and the capacity they have for memory retrieval, eliciting reflections on lived experiences, and for providing richer attitudinal data. By drawing on 'accessibility theory', this article argues that audio vignettes are a powerful elicitor of attitudes. Furthermore, I claim that audio methods as I define them, can enhance the social scientists' toolkit and that, what I term 'audio sociology' needs further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the soundscape approach, environmental sounds are not considered noise, but as a source and as a component of the spatial planning and design process. It is necessary to evaluate the soundscape in urban spaces in a multifaceted and holistic manner, together with many factors such as physical, social, cultural, psychological, architectural, and so on. In this study, it is aimed to develop an estimation model that will allow the stages that take a long time to progress faster and more systematically in the multifaceted evaluation of the sound environment pleasantness levels of the users in urban spaces with the soundscape approach. For the model's quantitative data, sound quality metrics (loudness, sharpness, roughness) obtained from binaural sound recordings were used. The fuzzy logic estimation model is constructed by using Simple Membership Functions and the Fuzzy Rules Generation Technique (SMRGT) method, considering the characteristics of users and the survey area. In the model, it was possible to convey user experiences, and a simple approach that could be expressed numerically and understood was obtained with the fiction created with verbal concepts. Flexibility is allowed to diversify quantitative and qualitative metrics. The model has been tested with the case study performed with the users. As a result of the study, a close relationship was determined between the model outputs and the subjective data of the users. The efficiency ratios of other variables (age, gender, reasons for coming to the region, frequency of visit, duration of stay) belonging to users not included in the model were also determined. In this study, it has been revealed that the level of pleasantness of the sound environment in urban spaces should be evaluated not only in terms of quantitative data but also on the characteristics of the spaces and users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid technological advances in recent decades have led researchers to refine the accuracy of their studies. In the field of acoustics, the impact of new devices is noticeable, especially in the investigations of cultural heritage buildings. The selection of a seat in theatres and concert halls has always been a concern, since the live experience of artistic performance depends on the quality of hearing and sight view. This paper deals with the elaboration of 360° acoustic maps made in the National Theatre of Zagreb, one of the opera theatres investigated with the Sipario project. The analysis of the main acoustic parameters has been carried out, starting with site measurements describing the acoustic response at various representative points of the main hall by covering the audience area. In addition, acoustic maps have been created for some selected positions based on a 3-degree-of-freedom (3dof) technique that allows a panoramic visualization of the impulse responses (IRs). This methodology completes the determination of early and late reflections that contribute to the acoustic quality of a place. In addition to the interest of experts in acoustics, this methodology can also be adopted by music lovers who can find a reasonable explanation for seat selection when booking their tickets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a carrier of cultural characteristics of historic districts, the soundscape has unique advantages in shaping regional cultural personality, and mastering its spatiotemporal characteristics is crucial for preserving soundscape heritage with natural and humanistic environments as its kernel. Focusing on the Three Square and Seven Alleys historic and cultural district in Fuzhou, this paper analyzes the spatial and temporal patterns of the physical acoustic indicators of the soundscape, the spatial dependence of the sound source harmony, and the spatial relationship between the two. It was found that the physical acoustic indicators showed dynamic changes in spatial and temporal scales and reflect specific human activity and behavioral patterns; sound source harmony showed spatial autocorrelation in both global and local models, with prominent spatial characteristics; and the physical acoustic indicators may negatively affect soundscape perception. The study emphasizes the importance of the regional cultural connotation of soundscape in urban planning. It provides a scientific basis for the planning, designing, and managing of soundscape resources in historic and cultural districts and world heritage sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper describes Ecoacoustic bank, a software for managing and storing passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) data. The software allows integrating audio with other commonly collected data types, such as information on acquisition systems used and spatial–temporal conditions, to encourage research in biodiversity and environmental monitoring. As part of this effort, we use docker technology to facilitate software deployment, where we integrated a user-friendly web interface with the database engine. Other features include integrating advanced search filters and audio annotation of anthropophonies, biophonies, and geophonies.

The association of urban greenspace and human health and well-being is widely recognised, but the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. The acoustic environment (AE) is frequently proposed as a mediator between greenspace and human health. While it is commonly viewed as a negative health factor (e.g. noise pollution), there is growing evidence that it also has positive effects on human health. However, a general problem is the lack of information on the AE for greenspaces in high spatial resolution. To provide evidence-based support for research on this issue, we identify and assess acoustic properties of health-related urban greenspace by estimating the association between urban green area and selected acoustic indices.The analysis is based on 5-minute audio recordings collected systematically from 730 locations, four times a year (n = 2,746) in Bochum, Germany. To quantify the acoustic properties, we use an indicator-set of 30 sound pressure levels, 11 eco-, 78 psychoacoustic indices and 3 complex network measures. Greenspace is defined, in alignment with various health studies, as the percentage of green area within three buffer sizes (50, 100, 300 m) around each recording location.Through cluster analysis, we identify eleven acoustic dimensions in our indicator-set, for which representative indices are derived using principal component analysis. Descriptive statistics and multi-level regression models are used to analyse the associations between representative indices and greenspace. We find the highest effect sizes for Link Density (representing “acoustic dominance”), Acoustic Richness (representing “persistent sound volume”) and the Articulation Index (representing “sound volume”). Thus, in addition to “sound volume”, the AE of urban greenspace is characterised to a similar extent by at least two additional acoustic dimensions. If properties of the AE act as mediators between urban greenspace and human health, these three acoustic dimensions hold the potential to reflect them. Studies on pathways between greenspace and human health could incorporate measures of these dimensions to extend the understanding of the AE’s relevance for Public Health.

The F1 Race is one of the most popular international sports events in the world, attracting a huge number of tourists every year. However, the sound emission may lead to hearing damage or unpleasantness from a psychological or physiological perspective. This study selected two sites near the Singapore Formula 1 Night Race racing tracks in 2023 to record and compare the noise profiles with the respective ambient conditions. Both the regular sound pressure level and the psychoacoustic analysis will be included. The A-weighted Leq value was over 95 dBA near the straight racing tracks during the Formula 1 Singapore Airline Singapore Grand Prix session, and the LAmax value can reach more than 120 dBA. Meanwhile, the LAeq and LAmax values near the bend during the afternoon race sessions were over 91 dBA and 117 dBA. Besides, the average LCeq values can be even higher. Additionally, the psychoacoustic parameters of loudness, sharpness and roughness differentiate the acoustic character at the bends and straight tracks. With similar LAeq and LAmax values, the averaged loudness and sharpness values were significantly higher at the straight tracks, while the roughness values were higher at the bend.