ACOUSTIC CLIMATE OF PLANT COMMUNITIES

During summer and winter of 1971 and 1972, the acoustic properties, defined as the acoustic climate, of 8 semi-natural plant communities in the Netherlands were investigated. It appeared that each plant community has its own acoustic climate as a consequence of the specific species composition and the specific acoustic properties of the soil. Seasonal changes influenced the acoustic climate to some extent, since during summer there is a better attenuation of low frequencies and in winter of middle frequencies. Comparing all plant communities, the total variation in attenuation differed from 29.6 dB/100 m at 1250 Hz in winter to 74.6 dB/100 m at 10,000 Hz in summer. The best attenuation occurred at low and high frequencies in both seasons, which is attributed to soil and foliage characteristics.