Table 2.
Environmental noise levels (biotic and abiotic sources)
| Environmental noise levels (biotic and abiotic sources) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source | Location | Date and time | Notes | Ambient noise level |
| Saby and Thorpe (1946) | Barro Colorado Island and a site near Gamboa, Panama (lowland tropical forest) | 24-h cycle | Measurements are the daily range of integrated intensity of ambient noise within two frequency bands: 0–10 and 15–25 kHz. Source includes plots of the spectral distribution of ambient noise from 8 to 25 kHz. | Barro Colorado Island: 0–10 kHz: ~47–~62 dB SPL 15–25 kHz: <45 dB SPL Near Gamboa: 0–10 kHz: ~42–~53 dB SPL 15–25 kHz: <55 dB SPL |
| Price (1971) | Rural Vancouver Regional District, Canada | Mar–Jun 1971 | Measurements were taken on days with low winds and represent the peak ambient noise level (L10). | Day: 58 dB A Night: 53 dB A |
| EPA (1972) | Grand Canyon North Rim, AZ | 24-h cycle | Measurements represent the residual noise level (L90) and were taken in the presence and absence of cricket choruses. | Without cricket chorus: 16 dB A During cricket chorus: 32 dB A |
| Rosen and Lemon(1974) | Near Montreal and Rockway, Quebec (pond and lake) | May–Jun 1971–1973 19.00–24.00 h | Measurements represent the range of ambient noise levels of 19 evenings in the presence and absence of frog choruses. | Without frog chorus: 24–53 dB SPL During frog chorus: 60–81 dB SPL |
| Morton (1975) | Panama (lowland tropical habitats: monsoon forest, forest edge, and grassland) | Unknown | Measurements were made at sites chosen for uniformity of habitat and flatness of terrain. | Forest: 0.5 kHz, 23 dB SPL 1 kHz, 20 dB SPL 1.6 kHz, 22 dB SPL 2 kHz, 22 dB SPL 2.5 kHz, 22 dB SPL 3 kHz, 26.5 dB SPL 4 kHz, 31 dB SPL 8 kHz, 38 dB SPL Forest edge: 0.5kHz, 23 dB SPL 1 kHz, 20 dB SPL 2 kHz, 22 dB SPL 4 kHz, 31 dB SPL 8 kHz, 35 dB SPL Grassland: 0.5 kHz, 30 dB SPL 1 kHz, 20 dB SPL 2 kHz, 20 dB SPL 4 kHz, 20 dB SPL 8 kHz, 20 dB SPL |
| Luz and Smith (1976) | Otero Mesa, New Mexico | Apr 1975 07.30 h | Measurements made in 6- to 12- knot winds | 36–40 dB A |
| Waser and Waser(1977) | Edea, Cameroun and Kibale, Uganda (tropical forest) | Edea: 06.00–21.00 h Kibale: 24-h cycle | Measurements (C-weighted) represent the range of ambient noise from 0.05 to 7.5 kHz over the period sampled. Peak noise levels at Edea occurred in the presence of cicada and orthopteran choruses. | Edea: ~55–~80 dB SPL Kibale: ~40–~50 dB SPL |
| Tuttle and Ryan(1982) | Barro Colorado Island and Bohio, Panama (lowland tropical forest) | Jan–Apr 1981 | Measurements made 3 cm above the ground near streams, in both the presence and the absence of frog choruses at 3 sites. | Site 1: 57–71 dB SPL Site 2: 53–57 dB SPL Site 3: 51–66 dB SPL |
| Narins (1982) | Luquillo Mountains, Caribbean National Forest, eastern Puerto Rico (tropical rainforest) | May–Jun 1980 24-h cycle | Measurements represent the range of biotic noise over a 24-h cycle, quantified using octave filters centered at 1 and 2 kHz (centered on components of the frog’s call). Peak SPL levels occurred in the presence of nocturnal frog choruses. | Octave band centered at 1 kHz: ~48–~80 dB SPL Octav band centered at 2 kHz: ~48–92dB SPL |
| Brenowitz (1982a); see also Brenowitz (1982b) | Near Ithaca, NY (upland field) | 1980–1981 05.20–20.20 h | Measurements represent the daily range of mean ambient noise levels measured on a linear unweighted scale. Source includes plots of the spectral distribution of ambient wind-generated noise from 0 to 10 kHz. | 48–76 dB SPL |
| Schwartz and Wells 1983) | Gamboa, Panama (flooded field) | Jun–Aug 1981–1982 19.30–23.30 h | Measurements made during a frog chorus. | 75–80 dB SPL |
| Brown and Schwagmeyer (1984) | Matthaei Botanical Gardens, MI, and a field near the University of Missouri, Columbia | 10.00–15.00 h | Measurements are the average of 30 random samples analyzed in octave bands from 0.125 to 16 kHz. Source includes plots of the spectral distribution of ambient noise from 0.125 to 16 kHz. | Maximum (0.125 kHz): ~60 dB SPL Minimum (16 kHz): ~25 dB SPL |
| Brenowitz et al. 1984) | Near Ithaca, NY (shallow ponds) | Apr–Jun | Measurements (A-weighted) were made at two sites with a minimum of 25 male spring peeper tree frogs. | Without frog chorus: 33–52 dB A During frog chorus: 64–82 dB A |
| Ryan and Brenowitz 1985) | Parque Nacional Soberano, Panama (forest and grassland) | Jul 1983 06.00–08.00 h | Measurements were made near the ground and 1.5 m above the ground for a period of several minutes and represent the average maximum rms sound pressure level. Source includes plots of the spectral distribution of ambient noise from 0 to 10 kHz in two habitats at 06.00, 07.00, and 08.00 h. | Forest: 64 dB SPL Grassland: 55 dB SPL |
| Waser and Brown (1986); (see also Brown and Waser 1984; Brown and Waser 1984) | Kibale, Uganda (rainforest) Kakamega, Kenya (rainforest) Mchelelo, Uganda (riverine forest and savanna) | Kibale: Sept 1974 Kakamega: July 1981 Mchelelo: Aug 1981 06.00–18.00 h | Measurements are the average of samples at least 30 s long taken from a minimum of four locations within each habitat. Source includes plots of the spectral distribution of ambient noise from 0 to 10 kHz in three habitats. | Rainforest: 0.063 kHz, 40 dB SPL 0.125 kHz, 31 dB SPL 0.2 kHz, 27 dB SPL 0.5 kHz, 25 dB SPL 1 kHz, 28 dB SPL 2 kHz, 32 dB SPL 4 kHz, 34 dB SPL Riverine forest: 0.063 kHz, 40 dB SPL 0.125 kHz, 35 dB SPL 0.2 kHz, 34 dB SPL 0.5 kHz, 33 dB SPL 1 kHz, 31 dB SPL 2 kHz, 30 dB SPL 4 kHz, 33 dB SPL Savanna: 0.063 kHz, 33 dB SPL 0.125 kHz, 28 dB SPL 0.2 kHz, 26 dB SPL 0.5 kHz, 23 dB SPL 1 kHz, 24 dB SPL 2 kHz, 23 dB SPL 4 kHz, 25 dB SPL |
| Odendaal et al. (1986) | Flinders Ranges, South Australia | May–Nov | Measurements were made along slow to fast-moving creeks at seven sites in the presence and absence of frog choruses. | Maximum noise level without frog chorus: 40–50 dB SPL Minimum noise level during frog chorus: 57–63.3 dB SPL |
| Gerhardt and Klump (1988) | Near Savannah, Georgia (pond) | Unknown | Measurements (C-weighted) were made 10 m from the edge of a pond containing more than 100 calling male green tree frogs. | 84–87 dB SPL |
| Römer et al. (1989) | Near Perth, Western Australia (woodland) | Dec 1986 16.00–22.00 h | Measurements were made 1 m above ground at two sites during a bushcricket chorus. Source includes plot of the spectral distribution of ambient noise from 0 to 40 kHz. | Site 1: ~50–60 dB SPL Site 2: ~40 dB SPL |
| Páez et al. (1993) | La Selva, Costa Rica (tropical forest) | Aug 1991 07.00–11.00 h | Measurements were made in the arboretum of the La Selva Biological Station both in the absence of cicada calls and in the presence of a full cicada chorus. | No cicadas: <60 dB SPL Cicadas calling: 60–86 dB SPL |
| Reiman and Terhune (1993) | Bay of Fundy, Canada (nearshore coastal waters) | May–Jul 1992 09.00–15.00 h | Measurements were made 9 cm above ocean’s surface on calm days (wind <5 km/h) with no rain. | 0.5 kHz, 15 dB SPL 1 kHz, 12 dB SPL 2 kHz, 9dB SPL 4 kHz, 2 dB SPL |
| NPS (1995) | Grand Canyon National Park, AZ Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Haleakala National Park, HI | Summer and fall 1992 | Measurements represent the range of ambient noise recorded at several sites within each park. The upper limit represents the ambient noise level that was exceeded only 5% of the time at the noisiest site, while the lower limit represents the ambient noise that was exceeded 95% of the time at the quietest site. | Grand Canyon National Park (15 sites near river): ~15–~58 dB A Grand Canyon National Park (8 sites at rim): ~10–~53 dB A Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (4 sites):14–~43 dB A Haleakala National Park (4 sites): ~8–~30 dB A |
| Penna and Solís (1998) | Southern Chile (temperate marsh and bog) | Nov and Dec 1990–1992 07.30–19.00 h | Measurements are peak noise levels that were recorded at ground level during calm days only and in the absence of frog calls. | Marsh: 62.6 dB SPL Bog1: 59.3 dB SPL Bog2: 50.8 dB SPL Bog3: 74.9 dB SPL |
| Aubin and Jouventin (1998) | Possession Island, Southern Indian Ocean (shoreline) | Dec 1995–Jan 1996 11.00–12.00 h | Measurements were made 2 m from edge of king penguin colony on calm days (wind <10 km/h). Source includes plot of the spectral distribution of ambient noise from 0 to 8 kHz | 74.1 ± 3.4 dB SPL |