HABITAT DESTRUCTION AND FRAGMENTATION are the greatest threats to wildlife and the major causes of species extinction (Wilcove et al. 1998; Crooks and Sanjayan 2006). National parks are largely protected from the wholesale conversion of land to human uses, but parks are not entirely protected from habitat degradation. Climate change, altered atmospheric and hydrologic conditions, and disrupted migration and dispersal pathways are examples of issues that transcend park boundaries. To these we can add another pervasive factor that has not received the same level of attention. Noise knows no boundaries, and national park units are experiencing substantial degradation of their acoustic environments from largely uncontrolled external activities as well as internal visitor use and park management.

Noise knows no boundaries, and national park units are experiencing substantial degradation of their acoustic environments from largely uncontrolled external activities as well as internal visitor use and park management.