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Ecologists must understand how marine life responds to changing local conditions, rather than to overall global temperature rise, say Amanda E. Bates and 16 colleagues. Ecologists must understand how marine life responds to changing local conditions, rather than to overall global temperature rise.

The role of nature in tourism is widely acknowledged; yet, information remains limited about the determinants of green tourismdevelopment within conservation areas. Here, we aimed to provide a framework for exploring the supportive role of quietness in green tourismdevelopment. Because natural quietness is expected to facilitate conservation and promote environment-friendly tourism, we tested whether quiet areas within conservation sites in Greece indicate “hotspots” of green tourism. We found that the percentage of quietness was related to environment-friendly tourism, indicating that the acoustic value of a site contributes towards driving the pattern of green tourism. When more than 30% of the surface area of a conservation site was quiet, activities supporting green tourismwere significantly higher. This threshold implies that both the conservation and acoustic value of a site are important in environment-conscious tourism destinations. Overall, we suggest that the acoustic quality of a site might function as a tool for management, facilitating the identification of green tourism“hotspots”.