[Noise-reduction function and its affecting factors of urban plant communities in Shanghai]

The factor analysis on the relationships between excess noise attenuation (decrement after noise propagating 30 m) and 8 structural characteristics of 19 urban plant communities in Shanghai showed that all the plant communities had notable effects on reducing noise, and the noise attenuation ability of the communities was significantly higher than that of lawn (P < 0.01). The plant communities could be divided into three groups base on their noise attenuation ability, i.e., those of > or = 10 dB(A), 6-10 dB(A), and < or = 6 dB(A). The main factors affecting the noise attenuation ability of the communities were leaf area index, average bifurcate height, average height, coverage, and average canopy diameter, and their correlation coefficients with noise attenuation were 0.343, 0.318, 0.285, 0.226 and 0.193, respectively. These five factors had a cumulative contribution rate of 65.47%, suggesting that they should be considered in stress when designing urban greenbelt for noise reduction.