Boat noise impacts Lusitanian toadfish breeding males and reproductive outcome

Amorim, M. Clara P.; Vieira, Manuel; Meireles, Gabriela; Novais, Sara C.; Lemos, Marco F.L.; Modesto, Teresa; Alves, Daniel Pavani Vicente; Zuazu, Ana; Lopes, Ana F.; Matos, André B.; Fonseca, Paulo J.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154735

Cited by 28 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Although we observed persistent alterations in roach behaviour with less group cohesion and altered feeding preference, these effects did not propagate downward along the food chain through trait-mediated cascading effects. A valuable perspective would be to study the dynamics of roach under chronic anthropogenic noise to test whether the behavioural responses we observed ultimately decrease survival and/or reproductive success [61], and result in densitymediated cascading effects. Sididae, chao: Chaoborus larvae, ostra: ostracods, daph: Daphniidae).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From behaviour to complex communities: Resilience to anthropogenic noise in a fish-induced trophic cascade

Rojas

Gouret

Agostini

et al. 2022

Preprint

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SUMMARYSound emissions from human activities represent a pervasive environmental stressor. Individual responses in terms of behaviour, physiology or anatomy are well documented but whether they propagate through nested ecological interactions to alter complex communities needs to be better understood. This is even more relevant for freshwater ecosystems that harbour a disproportionate fraction of biodiversity but receive less attention than marine and terrestrial systems. We conducted a mesocosm investigation to study the effect of chronic exposure to motorboat noise on the dynamics of a freshwater community including phytoplankton, zooplankton, and roach as a planktivorous fish. As expected under the trophic cascade hypothesis, roach predation induced structural changes in the planktonic communities. Surprisingly, although roach changed their feeding behaviour in response to noise, the dynamics of the roach-dominated planktonic communities did not differ between noisy and noiseless mesocosms. This suggests that the top-down structuring influence of roach on planktonic communities might be resilient to noise and reveals the difficulties on extrapolating impacts form individual responses to complex communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From behaviour to complex communities: Resilience to anthropogenic noise in a fish-induced trophic cascade

Rojas

Gouret

Agostini

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…In fact, anthropogenic noise from scuba diving and boat traffic is higher at SP than at MOL, potentially affecting sound detection and dusky grouper behaviour at that site. Tourism in the study area peaks in July–August (Hogg, Noguera‐Méndez & Semitiel‐García, 2017), exposing the species to increased motorboat noise during the spawning season and potentially impacting its behaviours and reproductive success at SP (Popper & Hawkins, 2019; Amorim et al, 2022). The findings of this study highlight the importance of acoustic communication for the dusky grouper and potential vulnerability to anthropogenic noise, which should be investigated further.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking courtship calls and observed behaviours of Epinephelus marginatus in the wild offers new insights into its reproduction and conservation

Desiderà,

Mazzoldi,

Navone

et al. 2023

Aquatic Conservation

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Groupers are marine fishes particularly vulnerable to overexploitation owing to their reproduction‐related traits. The dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus is classified as ‘Endangered’ in the Mediterranean Sea, where protection measures have proven critical for allowing population recovery and persistence of the species. However, knowledge gaps remain regarding its reproductive behaviours and spawning sites. As with other grouper species, the dusky grouper is known to produce courtship‐associated sounds, which were validated in captivity, but no study has ever established a link between sound production and observed behaviours in the wild. This study aims to characterize, both visually and acoustically, the behavioural patterns of wild dusky grouper, thus specifically linking visual courtship behaviours to the associated sound production. Visual as well as passive acoustic methods were employed at two presumptive spawning sites within a Mediterranean Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the north‐western Mediterranean Sea over two consecutive summer seasons (2017 and 2018). The temporal patterns of sound production showed site specificity over the month in which reproductive activity was most intense. Courtship calls were mostly recorded around sunset at both study sites and were significantly associated with visual reproductive behaviours. Results also indicated a temporal partitioning in the acoustic activity of the species, with different sound types being recorded at distinct times of the day, likely corresponding to the occurrence of various behaviours during those periods. These findings have important implications for identifying and monitoring dusky grouper spawning sites using passive acoustic methods, therefore providing valuable information for the development, implementation, and/or enforcement of effective conservation measures therein.

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“…Engås et al (1996) [73] and Paxton et al (2017) [74] showed a significant decrease in multiple fish species, while Slotte et al (2004) [75] observed that pelagic fish tend to swim deeper during seismic surveys. Recent studies carried out at the Tagus estuary (Portugal) using the Lusitanian toadfish (Halobatrachus didactylus) as a model species show that males exposed to boat noise depressed their metabolism and their activity (such as parental care and mate attraction) to cope with an acoustic stressor, consistent with a freezing defensive response/behavior, which implies that boat noise may have a severe impact on reproductive fitness [76]. In the same study area and using the same model species, Faria et al (2022) [77] found that boat noise induced a detrimental effect on embryos and larvae stress response and on larvae development, providing evidence of detrimental effects of boat noise exposure on fish development in the field and on stress biomarker responses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine Noise Effects on Juvenile Sparid Fish Change among Species and Developmental Stages

et al. 2023

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Marine noise is an emerging pollutant inducing a variety of negative impacts on many animal taxa, including fish. Fish population persistence and dynamics rely on the supply of early life stages, which are often very sensitive to disturbance. Impacts of marine noise pollution (MNP) on juvenile fish have rarely been investigated in temperate regions. This is particularly true for the Mediterranean Sea, which is considered as an MNP hotspot due to intensive maritime traffic. In this study, we investigate the relationship between MNP related to boat traffic and (i) assemblage structure and (ii) the density of juvenile fishes (post-settlers at different stages) belonging to the Sparidae family. We quantified MNP produced by boating at four coastal locations in the French Riviera (NW Mediterranean Sea) by linearly combining five variables into a ‘noise index’ (NI): (i) boat visitation, (ii) number of boat passages/hour, (iii) the instantaneous underwater noise levels of passing boats, (iv) continuous boat underwater noise levels and (v) duration of exposure to boat noise. Then, using the NI, we identified an MNP gradient. By using juvenile fish visual censuses (running a total of 1488 counts), we found that (i) the assemblage structure and (ii) the density patterns of three fish species (i.e., Diplodus sargus, D. puntazzo, D. vulgaris) changed along the MNP gradient. Specifically, the density of early D. sargus post-settlers was negatively related to MNP, while late post-settler densities of D. puntazzo and, less evidently, D. vulgaris tended to decrease more rapidly with decreasing MNP. Our findings suggest the following potential impacts of MNP on juvenile sparids related to coastal boat traffic: (i) idiosyncratic effects on density depending on the species and the developmental stage (early vs. late post-settlers); (ii) negative effects on recruitment, due to possible alteration of late post-settlement movement patterns.

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Boat noise impacts Lusitanian toadfish breeding males and reproductive outcome

Cited by 28 publications

References 80 publications

From behaviour to complex communities: Resilience to anthropogenic noise in a fish-induced trophic cascade

From behaviour to complex communities: Resilience to anthropogenic noise in a fish-induced trophic cascade

Linking courtship calls and observed behaviours of Epinephelus marginatus in the wild offers new insights into its reproduction and conservation

Marine Noise Effects on Juvenile Sparid Fish Change among Species and Developmental Stages

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