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Generally, people demonstrate a strong awareness of the noise effects which interfere with the human habitat; consequently there are new public laws and regulations to control emissions of noise in these environments. However, there is an inadequate attention towards human-induced noise pollution that damage animal habitats in wildlife reserves and it is one of many factors contributing to the depletion of wildlife populations. The aim of this applied research is to evaluate both the acoustical climate in the ‘Natural Reserve of Pergusa’ and the negative effects on the habitat of wildlife populations due to the noise emissions coming from Pergusa Auto-drome that lies on the boundaries of the Pergusa Lake.The research has been developed through the following phases: • Campaign of acoustical measurements for the characterization of ambient noise climate in the Reserve Area both during car race event and without car race event; •Analysis and data processing of acoustical measurements; •Adoption of an acoustical simulation model to calculate the noise levels predicted during motor race; •Analysis and comparison of simulated noise levels and measured noise levels; • Drawing of isophone curves in GIS environment to visualize the zones exposed to high levels of noise. On the bases of the results obtained, the paper shows that the noise level measured or predicted inside the Reserve Area could cause strong and negative interferences with the habitat of wildlife population.
acoustical climate, animal habitats, noise pollution, wildlife reserve
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Applied Acoustics, 70, pp. 1116–1127, 2009. doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2009.01.005