Boat noise impacts risk assessment in a coral reef fish but effects depend on engine type

McCormick, Mark I., Allan, Bridie J.M., Harding, Harry, and Simpson, Stephen D. (2018) Boat noise impacts risk assessment in a coral reef fish but effects depend on engine type. Scientific Reports, 8. 3847.

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Abstract

Human noise pollution has increased markedly since the start of industrialization and there is international concern about how this may impact wildlife. Here we determined whether real motorboat noise affected the behavior, space use and escape response of a juvenile damselfish (Pomacentrus wardi) in the wild, and explored whether fish respond effectively to chemical and visual threats in the presence of two common types of motorboat noise. Noise from 30 hp 2-stroke outboard motors reduced boldness and activity of fish on habitat patches compared to ambient reef-sound controls. Fish also no longer responded to alarm odours with an antipredator response, instead increasing activity and space use, and fewer fish responded appropriately to a looming threat. In contrast, while there was a minor influence of noise from a 30 hp 4-stroke outboard on space use, there was no influence on their ability to respond to alarm odours, and no impact on their escape response. Evidence suggests that anthropogenic noise impacts the way juvenile fish assess risk, which will reduce individual fitness and survival, however, not all engine types cause major effects. This finding may give managers options by which they can reduce the impact of motorboat noise on inshore fish communities.

Item ID: 57490
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 2045-2322
Keywords: boat noise; marine acoustics; sound; coral reef fish; predator-prey; risk assessment
Copyright Information: Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Funders: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, National Environment Research Council (NERC)
Projects and Grants: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies EI140100117, NERC NE/P001572/1
Research Data: https://doi.org/10.4225/28/5a8e04ef8103e
Date Deposited: 18 Mar 2019 02:06
FoR Codes: 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310302 Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology) @ 100%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9608 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity > 960808 Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity @ 100%
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