title: The investigation of noise attenuation by plants and the corresponding noise-reducing spectrum.
abstract: As noise pollution is becoming more and more serious, many researchers are studying the noise attenuation effect provided by plants. This article examines six kinds of evergreens as research subjects so as to compare the different arrangements and densities of plants and their effect on noise attenuation. The authors studied the relationship between each of the plant's characteristics (the characteristics include leaf area, leaf fresh weight, leaf tactility, and leaf shape) and their average relative noise attenuation (deltaLAep). The authors then generated the noise-reducing spectrum of the six plants. The results show that there is a notable difference in noise-reducing effects for low frequency and high frequency (p < .05) when the plants are arranged differently. Also, every plant demonstrates a specific noise-reducing spectrum. By quantifying noise attenuation characteristics and abilities of plants, the authors combine noise attenuation species to achieve the mutual benefits of plant varieties and establish an ecotypic sound barrier model with effective density and arrangement.
authors.affiliation: School of Landscape Architecture, Zhejiang Forestry University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Bao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhiyi
authors.forename: Zhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhujun
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiani
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D028203:Cedrus / Q000502:physiology; D002681:China; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017753:Ecosystem; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D030007:Nerium / Q000502:physiology; D009622:Noise / Q000517:prevention & control*; D046936:Photinia; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology*; D010944:Plants; D031787:Sasa / Q000502:physiology; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D027925:Viburnum / Q000502:physiology