The soundscape of Israel (IMAGE)
Caption
Results of the noise impact distances model mapped across Israel, depicting the first wildlife-oriented soundscape map. This model focuses on the negative effects of road traffic noise on bird breeding habitat selection, serving as a measure of their perceived acoustic environment. Distances of impact are based on model outputs that consider habitat type and traffic volume (vehicles\day), obtained through an extensive literature search. The map highlights open habitats (sand colour), dense habitats (dark green), areas affected by noise pollution (orange), with urban areas (white) excluded from the analyses. Road width and shade of colour indicate traffic volume category (black 50,000-100,000, darkest grey 20,000-50,000, dark grey 5000–20,000, light grey <5000, white for minor roads with no data). (a) Entire country view—where standardized traffic volume measurements occur. The map boundaries delineate the modelled area based on the area defined by www.cia.gov and do not necessarily reflect the officially recognized national borders of the State of Israel. Two black rectangles indicate the locations of regions of particular interest enlarged in (b) (upper) and (c) (lower). (b) Mt. Carmel Biospheric Reserve (striped light green). (c) The statutory ecological corridor in the Modi'in region (striped blue). This corridor is legally recognized for maintaining ecological connectivity but does not have the formal protection status of nature reserves.
Credit
Yael Lehnardt
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For use in articles connected to this research
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