First description of a glass sponge reef soundscape reveals fish calls and elevated sound pressure levels

Marine ecology progress series

Matthew K. Pine^4¹  Stephanie K. Archer^1²  William D. Halliday^1³  Xavier Mouy^2⁴  Amalis Riera^2,3⁵ 

[1] Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, BC V8L 4B2, Canada^5;Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, BC V9T 6N7, Canada^1;University of Victoria, Department of Biology, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada^2;University of Victoria, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada^4;Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 0E9, Canada^3

关键词: Acoustics;    Biophony;    Glass sponge reefs;    Anthrophony;   

DOI  :  10.3354/meps12572

学科分类：海洋学与技术

来源: Inter-Research

【 摘 要 】

Structured biogenic habitats are biodiversity hotspots that host a wide range of soniferous species. Yet in deep-water systems, their soundscapes are largely undescribed. In September of 2016 we deployed 3 underwater acoustic recorders for approximately 4 d in and around a glass sponge reef in the Outer Gulf Islands sponge reef fishing closure, British Columbia, Canada. The 2 recordings from the reef (within and at the margin of the reef footprint) were significantly louder in the mid- and high-frequency bands (100 to 1000 Hz and 1 to 10 kHz, respectively) than the recordings made in soft-bottom habitat away from the reef. These frequency bands are known to correlate with aspects of the biological community as well as benthic cover in shallow-water systems; visual surveys conducted in the area confirmed the presence of several known soniferous species. More fish sounds were recorded on the reef compared to the off-reef site. Our results suggest that this glass sponge reef has a distinct soundscape and that future work linking aspects of the soundscape to the ecology of the ecosystem are warranted.

【 授权许可】

Unknown