IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v7y2016i1d10.1038_ncomms10544.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Anthropogenic noise increases fish mortality by predation

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen D. Simpson

    (Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK)

  • Andrew N. Radford

    (School of Biological Sciences & Cabot Institute, University of Bristol)

  • Sophie L. Nedelec

    (School of Biological Sciences & Cabot Institute, University of Bristol)

  • Maud C. O. Ferrari

    (Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan)

  • Douglas P. Chivers

    (University of Saskatchewan)

  • Mark I. McCormick

    (Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University)

  • Mark G. Meekan

    (Australian Institute of Marine Science)

Abstract

Noise-generating human activities affect hearing, communication and movement in terrestrial and aquatic animals, but direct evidence for impacts on survival is rare. We examined effects of motorboat noise on post-settlement survival and physiology of a prey fish species and its performance when exposed to predators. Both playback of motorboat noise and direct disturbance by motorboats elevated metabolic rate in Ambon damselfish (Pomacentrus amboinensis), which when stressed by motorboat noise responded less often and less rapidly to simulated predatory strikes. Prey were captured more readily by their natural predator (dusky dottyback, Pseudochromis fuscus) during exposure to motorboat noise compared with ambient conditions, and more than twice as many prey were consumed by the predator in field experiments when motorboats were passing. Our study suggests that a common source of noise in the marine environment has the potential to impact fish demography, highlighting the need to include anthropogenic noise in management plans.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen D. Simpson & Andrew N. Radford & Sophie L. Nedelec & Maud C. O. Ferrari & Douglas P. Chivers & Mark I. McCormick & Mark G. Meekan, 2016. "Anthropogenic noise increases fish mortality by predation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-7, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10544
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10544
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms10544
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms10544?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jeroen Hubert & A Daniëlle van der Burg & Rob Witbaard & Hans Slabbekoorn, 2023. "Separate and combined effects of boat noise and a live crab predator on mussel valve gape behavior," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 34(3), pages 495-505.
    2. Harry R Harding & Timothy A C Gordon & Emma Eastcott & Stephen D Simpson & Andrew N Radford & Leigh Simmons, 2019. "Causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in animal responses to anthropogenic noise," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 30(6), pages 1501-1511.
    3. Ramirez-Carrasco, C. & Córdova-Lepe, F. & Moreno-Gómez, F.N. & Velásquez, N.A., 2022. "A mathematical model for the impact of noise on population dynamics of a single species experiencing Lombard effect," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 470(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10544. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.