A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details The use of acoustic analyses to evaluate ecological and social impacts of habitat degradation in contemporary conservation biology Paola Moscoso Rosero Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Sussex January 2018 ii DECLARATION The thesis conforms to an ‘article format’ in which the middle chapters consist of discrete articles written in a style that is appropriate for publication in peer- reviewed journals in the field. The first and final chapters present synthetic overviews and discussions of the field and the research undertaken. ---------------------- Chapter 1 is submitted to PeerJ journal as “Systematic literature review on the association soundscape and ecological/human wellbeing” in a PeerJ Preprint version. Citation: Moscoso P, Peck M, Eldridge A. (2018) Systematic literature review on the association between soundscape and ecological/human wellbeing. PeerJ Preprints 6:e6570v1https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.6570v1 The author contributions are as follows: Paola Moscoso was responsible for all aspects of data collection, data analysis, writing of the manuscript; Dr Mika Peck was responsible for providing feedback on study design and corrections to the manuscript. Dr Alice Eldridge was responsible for providing feedback on study design and corrections to the manuscript. Paola Moscoso, Dr Mika Peck and Dr Alice Eldridge were collectively responsible for initial conception of the research. Chapter 2 is written in the style of an article appropriate for Ecological Indicators journal. The author contributions are as follows: Paola Moscoso was responsible for all aspects of data collection, data analysis, writing of the manuscript; Dr Mika Peck was responsible for some aspects of data collection, providing feedback on study design and corrections to the manuscript. Dr Alice Eldridge was responsible for providing feedback on study design and corrections to the manuscript. Paola Moscoso, Dr Mika Peck and Dr Alice Eldridge were collectively responsible for initial conception of the research. Chapter 3 is written in the style of an article appropriate for Ecological Indicators journal. The author contributions are as follows: Paola Moscoso was responsible for all aspects of data collection, data analysis, writing of the manuscript; Dr Mika Peck was responsible for some aspects of data collection, providing feedback on study design and corrections to the manuscript. Dr Alice Eldridge was responsible for providing feedback on study design and corrections to the manuscript. Paola Moscoso was responsible for initial conception of the research. Chapter 4 is written in the style of an article appropriate for Conservation Biology journal. iii The author contributions are as follows: Paola Moscoso was responsible for all aspects of data collection, data analysis, writing of the manuscript; Dr Mika Peck was responsible for some aspects of data collection, providing feedback on study design and corrections to the manuscript. Dr Alice Eldridge was responsible for providing feedback on study design and corrections to the manuscript. Paola Moscoso and Dr Mika Peck were collectively responsible for initial conception of the research. Chapter 5 is published in Journal Ecoacoustics as “Emotional associations with soundscape reflect human-environment relationships”. Paper available in: https://doi.org/10.22261/JEA.YLFJ6Q. Citation: Moscoso P., Peck M., and Eldridge A. (2017). Emotional associations with soundscape reflect human-environment relationships. Journal of Ecoacoustics. 1: #YLFJ6Q. https://doi.org/10.22261/JEA.YLFJ6Q This chapter was also presented in the Ecoacoustics Congress held at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, USA on June 6-8, 2016. The author contributions are as follows: Paola Moscoso was responsible for all aspects of data collection, data analysis, writing of the manuscript; Dr Mika Peck was responsible for, providing feedback on study design and corrections to the manuscript. Dr Alice Eldridge was responsible some aspects of data collection, for providing feedback on study design and corrections to the manuscript. Paola Moscoso and Dr Alice Eldridge were collectively responsible for initial conception of the research. I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature:……………………………………… iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I want to thank mainly my supervisors Dr Mika Peck and Dr Alice Eldridge for the unconditional support along this journey. Without their guidance and motivation, this thesis would not have been the same. I want to thank Mika Peck for placing his trust in me from the beginning and allowing me get there; and because for many years he has been not only my supervisor, but a friend in the fight and in the dreaming. Thank you for the smiles and good cheer during the highs and lows throughout the doctorate. I want to thank Alice Eldridge for letting me discover and study the world of soundscape, because in addition to a great supervisor, she has become a friend and companion of ideas. Without her motivation, tenacity and rigour this work would certainly not be the same; Thanks to both for allowing me to explore and develop my "weird" ideas within the world of academia. I feel very lucky to have had you as supervisors. This work would not have been possible without the financial support of the Ecuador’s Secretary of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT) Grant Programme, so my sincere thanks to it. Special thanks to the people who collaborated at some point of this PhD: Noe Morales, Josep Navarro, Claire Reboha, Galo Conde, Wagner Encarnación, Joseph Cooper, Daniel Ingram, Nathaly Silvana Urbina and Daniel Chavez, for helping in the collection of data in the field and for the good times in the field work; to Manuel Sánchez, Jaime Culebras and Gabriel Aznar for the expert identification and their academic guidance of birds and amphibians. To Raúl Nieto, Yadira and Patricio Paredes, Amilcar Albán, Malu Gavilanez for welcoming us warmly in their homes and allowing me to carry out the field study and research. In the same way I want to sincerely thank Simon Wibberley, Juan Freile, Suhas Bashme and Ma. Fernanda Moscoso, for their academic acumen; John Platt for the English edits of the thesis and Josep Navarro for editing the graphics. Undoubtedly I want to thank my family enormously for their love, unconditional support and for being the "impellers of my machine" and motivating me to do this PhD. As well as my friends in England who have been like my family in this country: Esra Demirkol, Mariana Pinho de Alemida, Joseph Cooper, Lorena Guzman, Suhas Bashme, Maria Clara Castellanos and the whole group "usual suspects" and my colleagues in the office Kate Basley and Janine Griffiths-Lee and other friends of the JMS 5th floor. To my friends and “hermanos” in Ecuador, Sofía Serrano, Amaranta Valencia, Catalina Lizarzaburo, Anahís Cordova, Gabriel Barreto, Alicia Franco, Stephanie Toran, Nathalia Fuentes and Felipe Alfonso for being a great support for me during this time. In the same way I want to thank my new family David Warner, Stephan Herfutner, Alexander Kohler, Vasna Ramasar, Paolo Tognola and Sarah Maria for their love and support during this last year. A huge thank you to my husband Josep Navarro, for being the person who had to put up with me during this time. Without his presence, patience, guidance and love, I do not know if I could have finished this work. Thank you hermoso for being a great life partner, allowing me to grow and for fulfilling my path during these years. Infinite thanks to my Mother Earth for being the greatest inspiration and motivation of this work. In the same way to all the beings that have helped me to travel this path. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................................. ix LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................................xii ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….xii GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Aim & Dissertation Structure .......................................................................................................