Human and policy dimensions of soundscape ecology

Soundscape ecology is an emergent and potentially transformative scientific discipline. However, the majority of research within the field has been conducted by natural scientists focused on quantifying the characteristics and dynamics of soundscapes and examining their effect on non-human biota. A more holistic approach to the science and management of soundscapes requires full integration with the social and policy sciences. To facilitate the development of this integration, we propose an integrative human and policy dimensions of soundscape ecology framework that conceptualizes the complex and dynamic relationships between humans and their acoustic environments. The framework is grounded in four distinct disciplines - health, psychology, economics and anthropology - that have used different methodologies and metrics to focus on certain aspects of human-soundscape interactions. We provide a review of previous empirical research within each of these fields. Along the way, we identify unexplored avenues of discipline-specific research that can further the field of soundscape ecology. The human and policy dimensions of soundscape ecology framework provide the logic and structure upon which an interdisciplinary body of scholarship can be built in the future. We conclude by utilizing our review and integrative framework to propose specific focused soundscape policy and management recommendations. We argue the anthropogenic dominance of soundscapes can be mitigated through more proactive, integrative and holistic soundscape policies and management practices.