Traffic Noise Disturbance in Important Bird Areas in Sweden
Previous research has pointed out the negative impact of traffic noise on wildlife adjacent to major infrastructure corridors. The effects of traffic noise on birdlife are well documented, but effects on other taxa are also described in literature. In a similar manner, traffic noise decreases the value of human recreation in natural environments. Noise emissions from roads can hence be seen as a considerable problem for nature conservation and outdoor recreation. Despite this strong scientific evidence, the impact of traffic noise in natural environments is rarely assessed, and even more rarely mitigated, in Swedish road planning. The authors propose a method for assessing the traffic noise impact on areas of importance for nature conservation, with special emphasis on important bird areas. The method is based on effect levels presented in literature, available habitat data, bird observation data, road data and a simplified model for noise distribution. They applied the method in two Swedish regions with different traffic intensity, in order to estimate the impact of traffic noise on birds on a larger geographic scale, and to identify conflict points at which mitigation efforts should be directed. According to the method, the impact zone covers only 3 % of the total land area in the region with relatively high traffic, but affects as much as 15.8 % of all bird lakes, 15.0 % of all high nature value grasslands, 8.7 % of all large open bogs, and 17.4 % of the region´s all high nature value deciduous woodland. The corresponding figures from the low-traffic region are; < 1 % of the total land area, 12.3% of bird lakes, 6.9% of high nature value grasslands, and 1.5 % of large open bogs (no measure was given for high nature value deciduous woodland in this region). Although most sites were only in part affected by the noise effect zone, the study still indicates that traffic noise may have a disproportionate impact on some important bird habitats, thereby making noise impact a more serious conservation issue than first expected. Because bird areas are often rich also in other taxa, and in addition tend to be important areas for outdoor recreation, the authors argue that the traffic noise may have a broad impact on nature conservation, and that mitigation efforts should be made to minimize this impact. The method presented here can be further developed into a tool for prioritizing locations for such efforts.
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- Summary URL:
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Supplemental Notes:
- Abstract used with permission from the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation, organized by the Center for Transportation and the Environment, Institute for Transportation Research and Education, North Carolina State University.
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Corporate Authors:
North Carolina State University, Raleigh
Center for Transportation and the Environment
Raleigh, NC United States 27695-8601 -
Authors:
- Helldin, Jan Olof
- Collinder, Per
- Bengtsson, Daniel
- Karlberg, Åsa
- Askling, John
- Jangius, Anna
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Conference:
- 2011 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET 2011)
- Location: Seattle Washington, United States
- Date: 2011-8-21 to 2011-8-25
- Publication Date: 2012
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: pp 350-362
- Monograph Title: Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET 2011)
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Birds; Conservation; Environmental protection; Habitat (Ecology); Highway corridors; Infrastructure; Traffic noise
- Geographic Terms: Sweden
- Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I15: Environment; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01558435
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Mar 31 2015 8:53AM