Relationships between biodiversity, soundscapes, and human health in urban green spaces
Increasing urbanization and urban development characterized by densification and loss of green spaces poses risks to human health. Nevertheless, urban nature offers an important habitat and thus contributes to the preservation of urban biodiversity. Experiencing nature also increases human well-being. Biodiversity-based health interventions could be a cost-effective method of sustainably improving the health of the urban population.
Against this background, the project CitySoundscapes brings together current findings from forestry, landscape ecology and environmental psychology in an interdisciplinary approach. The aim is to investigate how urban green spaces should be designed and distributed in the city in order to support both biodiversity and human health. The focus here is on so-called soundscapes. In cities, people are exposed to many different acoustic stimuli. Some sounds, such as those from traffic, are perceived as disturbing noise and can trigger feelings of stress and anxiety. Green spaces can attenuate these disturbing noises and use natural acoustic stimuli to reduce stress and promote concentration.
Work Package 01: effects of urban vegetation structural complexity and landscape imperviousness on bird species diversity and community composition.
WP01 focuses on quantifying songbird species diversity at varying levels of vegetation cover and complexity using bioacoustics and AI. We use urban songbird communities as a model focal organism, but acknowledge possible expansion to other acoustic animals (e.g., amphibians, grasshoppers). We aim to test how structural aspects within green spaces (e.g., vegetation height, cover, complexity, composition) along with structural aspects in the surrounding gray space (e.g., roads, buildings; i.e., landscape imperviousness) affect songbird diversity indices, and how these effects change across the seasons. We will also test how urban green space structural complexity and the surrounding impervious urban landscape influence soundscape characteristics themselves (e.g., Acoustic Complexity Index; anthrophonic vs biophonic sounds), and how these acoustic characteristics in turn influence bird communities.
Contact:
Duration:
2025 - 2028
Funding:
BMBF-Forschungsinitiative zum Erhalt der Artenvielfalt (FEdA)
Publications:
Arzberger S, Fairbairn A, Hemauer M, Mühlbauer M, Weissmann J, Egerer M. (2025) The potential of soundscapes as an ecosystem monitoring tool for urban biodiversity, Journal of Urban Ecology, Volume 11, Issue 1, juaf002, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juaf002