The sources and prevalence of anthropogenic noise in Rockfish Conservation Areas with implications for marine reserve planning

Offshore habitats of endangered large mobile species in the western Yellow Sea: Quality status under shipping pressure

Increasing shipping pressure (SP) deteriorates offshore habitats of large mobile species (LMS) and invalidates marine conservation systems, while the threat of SP to the survival of LMS is not well understood. Here, for the 16 endangered LMS in the western Yellow Sea, we quantified their habitat quality in specific sea areas and conservation capacity of marine protected areas (MPAs) under SP, based on AIS (Automatic Identification System) data and an overlay analysis method for SP surfaces and LMS habitats. Results indicate that three specific sea areas have partially lost habitat function, and their MPA networks have also lost 66.7 %, 59.1 %, and 9.2 % of conservation capacity, respectively. To prevent the continued degradation and extinction of endangered LMS, urgent rescue efforts are needed. This study highlights the importance of monitoring offshore shipping pressure and LMS habitat quality, and the findings contribute to the adjustment of marine spatial planning and LMS protection strategies.

Effects of pile driving sound playbacks and cadmium co-exposure on the early life stage development of the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus

There is an urgent need to understand how organisms respond to multiple, potentially interacting drivers in today's world. The effects of the pollutants anthropogenic sound (pile driving sound playbacks) and waterborne cadmium were investigated across multiple levels of biology in larval and juvenile Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus under controlled laboratory conditions. The combination of pile driving playbacks (170 dB_pk-pk re 1 μPa) and cadmium combined synergistically at concentrations >9.62 μg_[Cd] L^-1 resulting in increased larval mortality, with sound playbacks otherwise being antagonistic to cadmium toxicity. Exposure to 63.52 μg_[Cd] L^-1 caused significant delays in larval development, dropping to 6.48 μg_[Cd] L^-1 in the presence of piling playbacks. Pre-exposure to the combination of piling playbacks and 6.48 μg_[Cd] L^-1 led to significant differences in the swimming behaviour of the first juvenile stage. Biomarker analysis suggested oxidative stress as the mechanism resultant deleterious effects, with cellular metallothionein (MT) being the predominant protective mechanism.

Sounding the Call for a Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds

Aquatic environments encompass the world’s most extensive habitats, rich with sounds produced by a diversity of animals. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is an increasingly accessible remote sensing technology that uses hydrophones to listen to the underwater world and represents an unprecedented, non-invasive method to monitor underwater environments. This information can assist in the delineation of biologically important areas via detection of sound-producing species or characterization of ecosystem type and condition, inferred from the acoustic properties of the local soundscape. At a time when worldwide biodiversity is in significant decline and underwater soundscapes are being altered as a result of anthropogenic impacts, there is a need to document, quantify, and understand biotic sound sources–potentially before they disappear. A significant step toward these goals is the development of a web-based, open-access platform that provides: (1) a reference library of known and unknown biological sound sources (by integrating and expanding existing libraries around the world); (2) a data repository portal for annotated and unannotated audio recordings of single sources and of soundscapes; (3) a training platform for artificial intelligence algorithms for signal detection and classification; and (4) a citizen science-based application for public users. Although individually, these resources are often met on regional and taxa-specific scales, many are not sustained and, collectively, an enduring global database with an integrated platform has not been realized. We discuss the benefits such a program can provide, previous calls for global data-sharing and reference libraries, and the challenges that need to be overcome to bring together bio- and ecoacousticians, bioinformaticians, propagation experts, web engineers, and signal processing specialists (e.g., artificial intelligence) with the necessary support and funding to build a sustainable and scalable platform that could address the needs of all contributors and stakeholders into the future.

Small recreational boats: a ubiquitous source of sound pollution in shallow coastal habitats

Sound from small recreational boats spans a wide range of frequencies and source levels, but the degree to which this impacts the soundscapes of shallow coastal habitats is poorly understood. Here, long-term passive acoustic recordings at five shallow coastal sites, including two MPAs, were used to quantify spatio-temporal variation in small boat sound and its effect on the soundscape. Boats were detected almost every day at each site, irrespective of protection status, significantly elevating the low-frequency (100-800 Hz) component of the soundscape. This frequency band is used by many species for communication, orientation, and predator avoidance. Therefore, highlighting the potential for small boat sound to alter soundscapes and mask cues. Existing tools for monitoring sound pollution are targeted at sound from shipping. These data highlight that the broadband and highly variable sound emitted by small boats must be considered when evaluating anthropogenic impacts on coastal marine ecosystems worldwide.

The Nexus between Tourism Activities and Environmental Degradation: Romanian Tourists’ Opinions

This paper aims to analyse the nexus between tourism activities, including tourists’ circulation, accommodation or entertainment, and environmental degradation. Consequently, the conceptual framework captures the complexity of the nexus between tourism and the environment, given that tourism activities can be performed by tourists or for tourists and that tourism depends on the environmental quality, and, consequently, we highlight the impact of tourism activities on biodiversity loss through the pollution effects that they generate, i.e., air pollution, water pollution, or noise pollution, as well as their contribution to waste increase or to the depletion of natural resources. To achieve this goal, we apply structural equation modelling based on partial least squares analysis (PLS). The results based on tourists’ opinions highlight the existence of a direct and significant nexus between tourists’ activities and environmental degradation, with many implications and consequences.