Quantifying Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Urban Wetland Soundscapes and Their Associative Pathways Regulating Restorative Benefits

The soundscape serves as a critical determinant of the quality of urban wetland parks. This study employs a mixed-methods approach to comprehensively evaluate wetland soundscapes. First, field investigations combining sound level measurements and questionnaire surveys were conducted in Aixi Lake Wetland Park to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of the soundscape. Second, laboratory-based physiological tracking (using wearable sensors) and cognitive tests (Sustained Attention to Response Task, SART) were utilized to experimentally quantify the restorative benefits of typical soundscapes. The findings reveal that: (1) sound level indicators and sound harmonious degree in urban wetland parks exhibit significant spatiotemporal characteristics and distributional variations; (2) a marked competitive effect among biological, geophysical, and human activity sounds is observed in their spatial distribution; sound harmonious degree demonstrates significant spatial autocorrelation in both global and local models; (3) different sound sources possess varying restorative potentials, with bird song showing the highest restorative effect; the SHDs of biological and geophony, along with LAeq, are key factors affecting PRSS; (4) a positive correlation exists between LAeq and the PRSS up to 56.4 dB, beyond which PRSS declines with increasing LAeq; (5) at the physiological level, short-term exposure to urban wetland park soundscapes can rapidly alleviate stress, with the most pronounced restorative effects occurring within the first 60 s; and (6) in terms of attention, soundscape stimulation reduces SART response times and improves response speed, while bird song from treetops and musical sounds further decrease response errors.