COVID-19 lockdown makes two Boston urban parks quieter, but another is noisier

By Richard B. Primack and Carina Terry
 

“They who are ready to go are already invited.”

- Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.

 
Noise from traffic and other human activities interferes with the enjoyment of nature and can change wildlife behavior.
 
In 2019, BU biologists began monitoring sound levels in three Boston area parks, quantifying how noise declined with greater distance from roads. These measurements created an opportunity to compare sound levels before and during the pandemic.

Carina Terry and Richard Primack at Hall’s Pond Sanctuary in Brookline, MA.  
Measurements were done using an iPhone app.

 
Hammond Woods in Newton and Hall’s Pond Sanctuary in Brookline both experienced the expected decreases in sound levels of about 1-3 decibels during the pandemic lockdown when there was less human activity, which made the parks noticeably quieter.
 
In contrast, Blue Hills Reservation in Milton experienced a surprising increase of 4-6 decibels. Most noise at Blue Hills is from a congested six-lane highway that cut through the park. With fewer cars and trucks during pandemic, the traffic moves much faster and so creates more noise throughout the park.

 
The paper was published in “Biological Conservation”:  Carina Terry, Matt Rothendler, Lucy Zipf, Mike Dietze,  and Richard B. Primack. 2021. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on noise pollution in three protected areas in metropolitan Boston (USA).  Biological Conservation.