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Minier L, Bertucci F, Gay T, Chamot Z, Turco T, Schligler J, Mills SC, Vidal M, Parmentier E, Sturny V, Mathevon N, Beauchaud M, Lecchini D, Médoc V. Behavioural response to boat noise weakens the strength of a trophic link in coral reefs. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024:124770. [PMID: 39159719 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2024] [Revised: 08/07/2024] [Accepted: 08/17/2024] [Indexed: 08/21/2024]
Abstract
In oceans, the noise generated by human activities has reached phenomenal proportions, with considerable harmful effects on marine life. Measuring this impact to achieve a sustainable balance for highly vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, is a critical environmental policy objective. Here, we demonstrate that anthropogenic noise alters the interactions of a coral reef fish with its environment and how this behavioural response to noise impairs foraging. In situ observations on the Moorea reef revealed that the damselfish Dascyllus emamo reacts to boat passage by moving closer to its coral bommie, considerably reducing the volume of water available to search for prey. Using boat noise playback experiments in microcosms, we studied D. emamo's behaviour and modeled its functional response (FR), which is the relationship between resource use and resource density, when feeding on juvenile shrimps. Similar to field observations, noise reduced D. emamo's spatial occupancy, accompanied by a lower FR, indicating a reduction in predation independent of prey density. Overall, noise-induced behavioural changes are likely to influence predator-prey interaction dynamics and ultimately the fitness of both protagonists. While there is an urgent need to assess the effect of anthropogenic noise on coral reefs, the ecological framework of the FR approach combined with behavioural metrics provides an essential tool for evaluating the cascading effects of noise on nested ecological interactions at the community level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lana Minier
- PSL Research University: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR 3278 CRIOBE, Moorea, French Polynesia; Polynésienne des Eaux, Vitale, Bora-Bora, French Polynesia.
| | - Frédéric Bertucci
- UMR MARBEC, University of Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRD, Sète, France
| | - Tamatoa Gay
- PSL Research University: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR 3278 CRIOBE, Moorea, French Polynesia
| | - Zoé Chamot
- PSL Research University: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR 3278 CRIOBE, Moorea, French Polynesia
| | - Théophile Turco
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, University of Saint-Etienne, CRNL, CNRS UMR 5292, Inserm UMR_S 1028, Saint-Etienne, France
| | - Jules Schligler
- PSL Research University: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR 3278 CRIOBE, Moorea, French Polynesia
| | - Suzanne C Mills
- PSL Research University: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR 3278 CRIOBE, Moorea, French Polynesia; Laboratoire d'Excellence "CORAIL", Perpignan, France; Institut universitaire de France
| | - Manuel Vidal
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Marseille, France
| | - Eric Parmentier
- Laboratory of Functional and Evolutionary Morphology, Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research, allée du 6 août B6c, University of Liege, 4000 Liege, Belgium
| | - Vincent Sturny
- Polynésienne des Eaux, Vitale, Bora-Bora, French Polynesia
| | - Nicolas Mathevon
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, University of Saint-Etienne, CRNL, CNRS UMR 5292, Inserm UMR_S 1028, Saint-Etienne, France; Institut universitaire de France; Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, CHArt Lab, PSL University, Paris, France
| | - Marilyn Beauchaud
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, University of Saint-Etienne, CRNL, CNRS UMR 5292, Inserm UMR_S 1028, Saint-Etienne, France
| | - David Lecchini
- PSL Research University: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR 3278 CRIOBE, Moorea, French Polynesia
| | - Vincent Médoc
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, University of Saint-Etienne, CRNL, CNRS UMR 5292, Inserm UMR_S 1028, Saint-Etienne, France
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Blackburn G, Ashton BJ, Thornton A, Woodiss-Field S, Ridley AR. Cognition mediates response to anthropogenic noise in wild Western Australian magpies (Gmynorhina tibicen dorsalis). GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2023; 29:6912-6930. [PMID: 37846601 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 09/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic noise is a pollutant of growing concern, with wide-ranging effects on taxa across ecosystems. Until recently, studies investigating the effects of anthropogenic noise on animals focused primarily on population-level consequences, rather than individual-level impacts. Individual variation in response to anthropogenic noise may result from extrinsic or intrinsic factors. One such intrinsic factor, cognitive performance, varies between individuals and is hypothesised to aid behavioural response to novel stressors. Here, we combine cognitive testing, behavioural focals and playback experiments to investigate how anthropogenic noise affects the behaviour and anti-predator response of Western Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis), and to determine whether this response is linked to cognitive performance. We found a significant population-level effect of anthropogenic noise on the foraging effort, foraging efficiency, vigilance, vocalisation rate and anti-predator response of magpies, with birds decreasing their foraging, vocalisation behaviours and anti-predator response, and increasing vigilance when loud anthropogenic noise was present. We also found that individuals varied in their response to playbacks depending on their cognitive performance, with individuals that performed better in an associative learning task maintaining their anti-predator response when an alarm call was played in anthropogenic noise. Our results add to the growing body of literature documenting the adverse effects of anthropogenic noise on wildlife and provide the first evidence for an association between individual cognitive performance and behavioural responses to anthropogenic noise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace Blackburn
- Centre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Benjamin J Ashton
- Centre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Sarah Woodiss-Field
- Centre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Amanda R Ridley
- Centre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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Pieniazek RH, Beach RK, Dycha GM, Mickle MF, Higgs DM. Navigating noisy waters: A review of field studies examining anthropogenic noise effects on wild fisha). THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 154:2828-2842. [PMID: 37930177 DOI: 10.1121/10.0022254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic noise is globally increasing in aquatic ecosystems, and there is concern that it may have adverse consequences in many fish species, yet the effects of noise in field settings are not well understood. Concern over the applicability of laboratory-conducted bioacoustic experiments has led to a call for, and a recent increase in, field-based studies, but the results have been mixed, perhaps due to the wide variety of techniques used and species studied. Previous reviews have explored the behavioral, physiological, and/or anatomical costs of fish exposed to anthropogenic noise, but few, if any, have focused on the field techniques and sound sources themselves. This review, therefore, aims to summarize, quantify, and interpret field-based literature, highlight novel approaches, and provide recommendations for future research into the effects of noise on fish.
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Affiliation(s)
- R H Pieniazek
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
| | - R K Beach
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
| | - G M Dycha
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
| | - M F Mickle
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
| | - D M Higgs
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
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Colbert BR, Popper AN, Bailey H. Call rate of oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau) is affected by aggregate sound level but not by specific vessel passagesa). THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 154:2088-2098. [PMID: 37787601 DOI: 10.1121/10.0021174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic sound is a prevalent environmental stressor that can have significant impacts on aquatic species, including fishes. In this study, the effects of anthropogenic sound on the vocalization behavior of oyster toadfish (Opasnus tau) at multiple time scales was investigated using passive acoustic monitoring. The effects of specific vessel passages were investigated by comparing vocalization rates immediately after a vessel passage with that of control periods using a generalized linear model. The effects of increased ambient sound levels as a result of aggregate exposure within hourly periods over a month were also analyzed using generalized additive models. To place the response to vessel sounds within an ecologically appropriate context, the effect of environmental variables on call density was compared to that of increasing ambient sound levels. It was found that the immediate effect of vessel passage was not a significant predictor for toadfish vocalization rate. However, analyzed over a longer time period, increased vessel-generated sound lowered call rate and there was a greater effect size from vessel sound than any environmental variable. This demonstrates the importance of evaluating responses to anthropogenic sound, including chronic sounds, on multiple time scales when assessing potential impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin R Colbert
- Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Solomons, Maryland 20688, USA
| | - A N Popper
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Helen Bailey
- Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Solomons, Maryland 20688, USA
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Burslem A, Isojunno S, Pirotta E, Miller PJO. Modelling the impact of condition-dependent responses and lipid-store availability on the consequences of disturbance in a cetacean. CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 10:coac069. [PMID: 36415287 PMCID: PMC9672687 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coac069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Revised: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Lipid-store body condition is fundamental to how animals cope with environmental fluctuations, including anthropogenic change. As it provides an energetic buffer, body condition is expected to influence risk-taking strategies, with both positive and negative relationships between body condition and risk-taking posited in the literature. Individuals in good condition may take more risks due to state-dependent safety ('ability-based' explanation), or alternatively fewer risks due to asset protection and reduced need to undertake risky foraging ('needs-based' explanation). Such state-dependent responses could drive non-linear impacts of anthropogenic activities through feedback between body condition and behavioural disturbance. Here, we present a simple bioenergetic model that explicitly incorporates hypothetical body condition-dependent response strategies for a cetacean, the sperm whale. The model considered the consequences of state-dependent foraging cessation and availability of wax ester (WE) lipids for calf provisioning and female survival. We found strikingly different consequences of disturbance depending on strategy and WE availability scenarios. Compared with the null strategy, where responses to disturbance were independent of body condition, the needs-based strategy mitigated predicted reductions in provisioning by 10%-13%, while the ability-based strategy exaggerated reductions by 63%-113%. Lower WE availability resulted in more extreme outcomes because energy stores were smaller relative to the daily energy balance. In the 0% availability scenario, while the needs-based strategy reduced deaths by 100%, the ability-based strategy increased them by 335% relative to null and by 56% relative to the same strategy under the 5%-6.7% WE availability scenario. These results highlight that state-dependent disturbance responses and energy store availability could substantially impact the population consequences of disturbance. Our ability to set appropriate precautionary disturbance thresholds therefore requires empirical tests of ability- vs needs-based response modification as a function of body condition and a clearer understanding of energy store availability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alec Burslem
- Corresponding author: Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 7984318003.
| | - Saana Isojunno
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
- Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, School of Mathematics, The Observatory, Buchanan Gardens, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9LZ, UK
| | - Enrico Pirotta
- Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, School of Mathematics, The Observatory, Buchanan Gardens, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9LZ, UK
| | - Patrick J O Miller
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
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van der Knaap I, Slabbekoorn H, Moens T, Van den Eynde D, Reubens J. Effects of pile driving sound on local movement of free-ranging Atlantic cod in the Belgian North Sea. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2022; 300:118913. [PMID: 35114303 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Revised: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Offshore energy acquisition through the construction of wind farms is rapidly becoming one of the major sources of green energy all over the world. The construction of offshore wind farms contributes to the ocean soundscape as steel monopile foundations are commonly hammered into the seabed to anchor wind turbines. This pile driving activity causes repeated, impulsive, low-frequency sounds, reaching far into the environment, which may have an impact on the surrounding marine life. In this study, we investigated the effect of the construction of 50 wind turbine foundations, over a time span of four months, on the presence and movement behaviour of free-swimming, individually tagged Atlantic cod. The turbine foundations were constructed at a distance ranging between 2.3 and 7.1 km from the cod, which resided in a nearby, existing wind farm in the southern North Sea. Our results indicated that local fish remained in the exposed area during and in-between pile-driving activities, but showed some modest changes in movement patterns. The tagged cod did not increase their net movement activity, but moved closer to the scour-bed (i.e. hard substrate), surrounding their nearest turbine, during and after each piling event. Additionally, fish moved further away from the sound source, which was mainly due to the fact that they were positioned closer to a piling event before its start. We found no effect of the time since the last piling event. Long-term changes in movement behaviour can result in energy budget changes, and thereby in individual growth and maturation, eventually determining growth rate of populations. Consequently, although behavioural changes to pile driving in the current study seem modest, we believe that the potential for cumulative effects, and species-specific variation in impact, warrant more tagging studies in the future, with an emphasis on quantification of energy budgets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inge van der Knaap
- Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE, Leiden, the Netherlands; Marine Biology Lab, Biology Department, Ghent University, Gent, 9000, Belgium.
| | - Hans Slabbekoorn
- Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Tom Moens
- Marine Biology Lab, Biology Department, Ghent University, Gent, 9000, Belgium
| | | | - Jan Reubens
- Flanders Marine Institute, Ostend, 8400, Belgium
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Acoustic Pressure, Particle Motion, and Induced Ground Motion Signals from a Commercial Seismic Survey Array and Potential Implications for Environmental Monitoring. JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/jmse9060571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
An experimental marine seismic source survey off the northwest Australian coast operated a 2600 cubic inch (41.6 l) airgun array, every 5.88 s, along six lines at a northern site and eight lines at a southern site. The airgun array was discharged 27,770 times with 128,313 pressure signals, 38,907 three-axis particle motion signals, and 17,832 ground motion signals recorded. Pressure and ground motion were accurately measured at horizontal ranges from 12 m. Particle motion signals saturated out to 1500 m horizontal range (50% of signals saturated at 230 and 590 m at the northern and southern sites, respectively). For unsaturated signals, sound exposure levels (SEL) correlated with measures of sound pressure level and water particle acceleration (r2= 0.88 to 0.95 at northern site and 0.97 at southern) and ground acceleration (r2= 0.60 and 0.87, northern and southern sites, respectively). The effective array source level was modelled at 247 dB re 1µPa m peak-to-peak, 231 dB re 1 µPa2 m mean-square, and 228 dB re 1 µPa2∙m2 s SEL at 15° below the horizontal. Propagation loss ranged from −29 to −30log10 (range) at the northern site and −29 to −38log10(range) at the southern site, for pressure measures. These high propagation losses are due to near-surface limestone in the seabed of the North West Shelf.
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Harding HR, Gordon TAC, Wong K, McCormick MI, Simpson SD, Radford AN. Condition-dependent responses of fish to motorboats. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200401. [PMID: 33202186 PMCID: PMC7728680 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenic noise is a pollutant of global concern that has been shown to have a wide range of detrimental effects on multiple taxa. However, most noise studies to-date consider only overall population means, ignoring the potential for intraspecific variation in responses. Here, we used field experiments on Australia's Great Barrier Reef to assess condition-dependent responses of blue-green damselfish (Chromis viridis) to real motorboats. Despite finding no effect of motorboats on a physiological measure (opercular beat rate; OBR), we found a condition-dependent effect on anti-predator behaviour. In ambient conditions, startle responses to a looming stimulus were equivalent for relatively poor- and good-condition fish, but when motorboats were passing, poorer-condition fish startled at significantly shorter distances to the looming stimulus than better-condition fish. This greater susceptibility to motorboats in poorer-condition fish may be the result of generally more elevated stress levels, as poorer-condition fish had a higher pre-testing OBR than those in better condition. Considering intraspecific variation in responses is important to avoid misrepresenting potential effects of anthropogenic noise and to ensure the best management and mitigation of this pervasive pollutant.
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Affiliation(s)
- H. R. Harding
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
- Marine Scotland Science, 375 Victoria Road, Aberdeen AB11 9DB, UK
| | - T. A. C. Gordon
- Biosciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Perth WA 6009, Australia
| | - K. Wong
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham NC 27708, USA
| | - M. I. McCormick
- ARC Centre for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland 4811, Australia
| | - S. D. Simpson
- Biosciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK
| | - A. N. Radford
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
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