TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding park visitors’ soundscape perception using subjective and objective measurement
AU - Ferguson, Lauren A.
AU - Taff, B. Derrick
AU - Blanford, Justine I.
AU - Mennitt, Daniel J.
AU - Mowen, Andrew J.
AU - Levenhagen, Mitchell
AU - White, Crow
AU - Monz, Christopher A.
AU - Francis, Clinton D.
AU - Barber, Jesse R.
AU - Newman, Peter
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Environmental noise knows no boundaries, affecting even protected areas. Noise pollution, originating from both external and internal sources, imposes costs on these areas. It is associated with adverse health effects, while natural sounds contribute to cognitive and emotional improvements as ecosystem services. When it comes to parks, individual visitors hold unique perceptions of soundscapes, which can be shaped by various factors such as their motivations for visiting, personal norms, attitudes towards specific sounds, and expectations. In this study, we utilized linear models and geospatial data to evaluate how visitors’ personal norms and attitudes, the park’s acoustic environment, visitor counts, and the acoustic environment of visitors’ neighborhoods influenced their perception of soundscapes at Muir Woods National Monument. Our findings indicate that visitors’ subjective experiences had a greater impact on their perception of the park’s soundscape compared to purely acoustic factors like sound level of the park itself. Specifically, we found that motivations to hear natural sounds, interference caused by noise, sensitivity to noise, and the sound levels of visitors’ home neighborhoods influenced visitors’ perception of the park’s soundscape. Understanding how personal factors shape visitors’ soundscape perception can assist urban and non-urban park planners in effectively managing visitor experiences and expectations.
AB - Environmental noise knows no boundaries, affecting even protected areas. Noise pollution, originating from both external and internal sources, imposes costs on these areas. It is associated with adverse health effects, while natural sounds contribute to cognitive and emotional improvements as ecosystem services. When it comes to parks, individual visitors hold unique perceptions of soundscapes, which can be shaped by various factors such as their motivations for visiting, personal norms, attitudes towards specific sounds, and expectations. In this study, we utilized linear models and geospatial data to evaluate how visitors’ personal norms and attitudes, the park’s acoustic environment, visitor counts, and the acoustic environment of visitors’ neighborhoods influenced their perception of soundscapes at Muir Woods National Monument. Our findings indicate that visitors’ subjective experiences had a greater impact on their perception of the park’s soundscape compared to purely acoustic factors like sound level of the park itself. Specifically, we found that motivations to hear natural sounds, interference caused by noise, sensitivity to noise, and the sound levels of visitors’ home neighborhoods influenced visitors’ perception of the park’s soundscape. Understanding how personal factors shape visitors’ soundscape perception can assist urban and non-urban park planners in effectively managing visitor experiences and expectations.
KW - Geospatial
KW - Human perception
KW - Keywords Soundscapes
KW - National park
KW - Noise senstivity
KW - Parks and protected areas
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85184000522&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.7717/peerj.16592
DO - 10.7717/peerj.16592
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85184000522
VL - 12
JO - PeerJ
JF - PeerJ
M1 - e16592
ER -