## 4 Discussion
The natural sounds typical of the Roztocze National Park ecosystem contrasted sharply with the traffic noise. Nature's sounds, such as birds singing, the calls of other animals (like deer), rustling leaves, and wind in the treetops, predominated. These sounds positively affect people, enhancing the functioning of the nervous system [80]. However, it should be noted that human activity, including traffic noise, significantly disturbed the park's natural audiosphere, introducing undesirable changes to the ecosystem. In areas with higher noise levels, natural sounds were often suppressed or completely vanished, negatively impacting animals and their behavior. This phenomenon also affected the comfort of tourists visiting the park, disrupting their wildlife observation experience. Undisturbed natural sounds were only present at points 500 m away from traffic routes, including those with relatively high measured sound intensity. Anthropogenic sounds, primarily traffic noise, were detected at points 250 m away from thoroughfares, even though the sound levels at these points were relatively low in most cases. The recordings illustrate a clear correlation between the distance from the traffic route and the audiosphere, which refers to the overall sound environment in which individuals perceive sound by interpreting various acoustic stimuli. In the immediate vicinity of the road, the predominance of anthropogenic sounds was expected. In contrast, at points farther away from the road, the recorded audio files enhance the noise impression analysis by incorporating spatial factors. These audio files contain sound phenomena captured during the measurements with a sound level meter. Analyzing the audio recordings from each test area revealed significant differences in the sounds occurring at varying distances from the traffic route. The recordings from the points nearest to the traffic routes primarily exhibit road noise. Other sound phenomena that should accompany these locations, such as the rustling of trees or birdsong, are not discernible. In recordings from points 250 m away from the roads, traffic noise remained present, but natural sounds, including birdsong, were also audible. In recordings from the furthest points away (500 m) from the roads, no anthropogenic sounds were detected; only natural sounds, such as the rustling of trees and birdsong, were heard. Therefore, it can be concluded that despite the higher sound level values detected at some of the measuring points furthest from the traffic routes, these points are the least affected by traffic noise. A pilot study conducted in 2017 on the impact of traffic noise on birds in Roztocze National Park [81] indicates a clearly negative effect. Birds are the species most affected by road noise, as they rely on sound for their fundamental behaviors [82]. Noise levels exceeding 60-65 dB can disrupt birds' singing, hindering their ability to communicate effectively during the breeding season and navigate their environments. For birds of prey, noise can diminish their hunting capabilities by interfering with their hearing and their response to sounds that signal the presence of prey [83; 84]. This study guided the selection of test areas for the current research, enabling a comparison of noise level measurements at these locations. The measurements from the pilot study are presented in Table 5.  
The data presented in Table 7 indicate that the highest noise levels were observed at the measurement points closest to transportation routes. The values were lower by up to approximately 15 dB than those found in the current study. This illustrates the increase in traffic noise pollution in the park and the significant burden this pollution poses on the environment. At the II distance category measurement points, the differences between the noise levels observed in these surveys and those presented in the report were smaller (5-11 dB), with the exception of the P2 area.