Monitoring soundscapes to understand the influence of climate variability and coastal urbanization on estuaries of the southeast USA Phone: +49 152 08243675 Address: University of Aberdeen School of Biological Sciences Aberdeen, UK
The Charleston Harbor in South Carolina (SC)is a major port that experiences high levels of vesse... more The Charleston Harbor in South Carolina (SC)is a major port that experiences high levels of vessel traffic. Historical analyses of coastal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus, now Tursiops erebennus) sightings identified multiple core use areas in the harbor that overlap with these anthropogenic activities. Informed by these long-term spatial data, passive acoustic monitoring, visual surveys, and prey sampling were conducted from December 2017 to June 2019 to assess the relationships and multivariate interactions that may influence dolphin vocalization patterns. Vocalizations varied spatially and temporally, peaking in fall and winter months coinciding with decreases in water temperature and daylight hours, following patterns previously reported in other SC estuaries. Dolphin prey and total fish abundance decreased with water temperature, which may indicate that dolphins echolocate and whistle more frequently in the winter months when prey are scarce and sound-producing species a...
In the Southeast USA, major contributors to estuarine soundscapes are the courtship calls produce... more In the Southeast USA, major contributors to estuarine soundscapes are the courtship calls produced by fish species belonging to the family Sciaenidae. Long-term monitoring of sciaenid courtship sounds may be valuable in understanding reproductive phenology, but this approach produces massive acoustic datasets. With this in mind, we designed a feature-based, signal detector for sciaenid fish calls and tested the efficacy of this detector against manually reviewed data. Acoustic recorders were deployed to collect sound samples for 2 min every 20 min at four stations in the May River estuary, South Carolina, USA from February to November, 2014. Manual analysis of acoustic files revealed that four fish species, belonging to the family Sciaenidae, were the major sound producers in this estuarine soundscape, and included black drum (Pogonias cromis), silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura), spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), and red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Recorded calls served as an acoustic library of signature features that were used to create a signal detector to automatically detect, classify, and quantify the number of calls in each acoustic file. Correlation between manual and automatic detection was significant and precision varied from 61% to 100%. Automatic detection provided quantitative data on calling rates for this long-term data set. Positive temperature anomalies increased calling rates of black drum, silver perch, and spotted seatrout, while negative anomalies increased calling rates of red drum. Acoustic monitoring combined with automatic detection could be an additional or alternative method for monitoring sciaenid spawning and changes in phenology associated with climate change.
The impact of boat related noise on marine life is a subject of concern, particularly for fish sp... more The impact of boat related noise on marine life is a subject of concern, particularly for fish species that utilize acoustic communication for spawning purposes. The goal of this study was to quantify and examine the risk of boat noise on fish acoustic communication by performing acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina (USA) from February to November 2013 using DSG-Ocean recorders. The number of boats detected increased from the source to the mouth with the highest detections near the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Boat noise frequency ranges overlapped with courtship sounds of silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura), black drum (Pogonias cromis), oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau), spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), and red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). In the May River estuary, red drum may experience the greatest risk of auditory masking because of late afternoon choruses (21% time overlap with boat noise) and only one spawning location near the noisy ICW.
In this study, our goal was to perform
acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina
(USA)... more In this study, our goal was to perform acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina (USA), for a 9 mo period and estimate reproductive timelines for a community of soniferous fishes. Acoustic recorders were deployed to collect sound samples for 2 min, every 20 min at 4 stations from the source to the mouth from February to November 2013. We detected the acoustic presence of 6 fish species: Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, black drum Pogonias cromis, silver perch Bairdiella chrysoura, oyster toadfish Opsanus tau, spotted sea - trout Cynoscion nebulosus, and red drum Sciaenops ocellatus. Acoustic detection rates and diversity of soniferous fish were higher near the mouth and de - creased towards the source, suggesting a selection of deeper water and/or more stable water quality conditions for spawning. We estimated the start and end dates of the spawning season and calculated the total hours of chorusing for silver perch, oyster toadfish, spotted seatrout, and red drum. Each species followed a specific seasonal and daily pattern of calling, and we observed synchrony of these calling patterns among stations. For silver perch, oyster toadfish, black drum, and spotted seatrout, a negative tem - perature anomaly correlated with decreased calling intensity, while a positive anomaly increased sound production. For oyster toadfish and spotted seatrout, the lunar phase significantly influenced calling. These data serve as a foundation for future studies that are investigating how climate variability may affect seasonal spawning timelines and year class strength of fish populations using passive acoustic monitoring.
The Charleston Harbor in South Carolina (SC)is a major port that experiences high levels of vesse... more The Charleston Harbor in South Carolina (SC)is a major port that experiences high levels of vessel traffic. Historical analyses of coastal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus, now Tursiops erebennus) sightings identified multiple core use areas in the harbor that overlap with these anthropogenic activities. Informed by these long-term spatial data, passive acoustic monitoring, visual surveys, and prey sampling were conducted from December 2017 to June 2019 to assess the relationships and multivariate interactions that may influence dolphin vocalization patterns. Vocalizations varied spatially and temporally, peaking in fall and winter months coinciding with decreases in water temperature and daylight hours, following patterns previously reported in other SC estuaries. Dolphin prey and total fish abundance decreased with water temperature, which may indicate that dolphins echolocate and whistle more frequently in the winter months when prey are scarce and sound-producing species a...
In the Southeast USA, major contributors to estuarine soundscapes are the courtship calls produce... more In the Southeast USA, major contributors to estuarine soundscapes are the courtship calls produced by fish species belonging to the family Sciaenidae. Long-term monitoring of sciaenid courtship sounds may be valuable in understanding reproductive phenology, but this approach produces massive acoustic datasets. With this in mind, we designed a feature-based, signal detector for sciaenid fish calls and tested the efficacy of this detector against manually reviewed data. Acoustic recorders were deployed to collect sound samples for 2 min every 20 min at four stations in the May River estuary, South Carolina, USA from February to November, 2014. Manual analysis of acoustic files revealed that four fish species, belonging to the family Sciaenidae, were the major sound producers in this estuarine soundscape, and included black drum (Pogonias cromis), silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura), spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), and red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Recorded calls served as an acoustic library of signature features that were used to create a signal detector to automatically detect, classify, and quantify the number of calls in each acoustic file. Correlation between manual and automatic detection was significant and precision varied from 61% to 100%. Automatic detection provided quantitative data on calling rates for this long-term data set. Positive temperature anomalies increased calling rates of black drum, silver perch, and spotted seatrout, while negative anomalies increased calling rates of red drum. Acoustic monitoring combined with automatic detection could be an additional or alternative method for monitoring sciaenid spawning and changes in phenology associated with climate change.
The impact of boat related noise on marine life is a subject of concern, particularly for fish sp... more The impact of boat related noise on marine life is a subject of concern, particularly for fish species that utilize acoustic communication for spawning purposes. The goal of this study was to quantify and examine the risk of boat noise on fish acoustic communication by performing acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina (USA) from February to November 2013 using DSG-Ocean recorders. The number of boats detected increased from the source to the mouth with the highest detections near the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Boat noise frequency ranges overlapped with courtship sounds of silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura), black drum (Pogonias cromis), oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau), spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), and red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). In the May River estuary, red drum may experience the greatest risk of auditory masking because of late afternoon choruses (21% time overlap with boat noise) and only one spawning location near the noisy ICW.
In this study, our goal was to perform
acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina
(USA)... more In this study, our goal was to perform acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina (USA), for a 9 mo period and estimate reproductive timelines for a community of soniferous fishes. Acoustic recorders were deployed to collect sound samples for 2 min, every 20 min at 4 stations from the source to the mouth from February to November 2013. We detected the acoustic presence of 6 fish species: Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, black drum Pogonias cromis, silver perch Bairdiella chrysoura, oyster toadfish Opsanus tau, spotted sea - trout Cynoscion nebulosus, and red drum Sciaenops ocellatus. Acoustic detection rates and diversity of soniferous fish were higher near the mouth and de - creased towards the source, suggesting a selection of deeper water and/or more stable water quality conditions for spawning. We estimated the start and end dates of the spawning season and calculated the total hours of chorusing for silver perch, oyster toadfish, spotted seatrout, and red drum. Each species followed a specific seasonal and daily pattern of calling, and we observed synchrony of these calling patterns among stations. For silver perch, oyster toadfish, black drum, and spotted seatrout, a negative tem - perature anomaly correlated with decreased calling intensity, while a positive anomaly increased sound production. For oyster toadfish and spotted seatrout, the lunar phase significantly influenced calling. These data serve as a foundation for future studies that are investigating how climate variability may affect seasonal spawning timelines and year class strength of fish populations using passive acoustic monitoring.
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acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina
(USA), for a 9 mo period and estimate reproductive
timelines for a community of soniferous fishes.
Acoustic recorders were deployed to collect sound
samples for 2 min, every 20 min at 4 stations from the
source to the mouth from February to November
2013. We detected the acoustic presence of 6 fish
species: Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus,
black drum Pogonias cromis, silver perch Bairdiella
chrysoura, oyster toadfish Opsanus tau, spotted sea -
trout Cynoscion nebulosus, and red drum Sciaenops
ocellatus. Acoustic detection rates and diversity of
soniferous fish were higher near the mouth and de -
creased towards the source, suggesting a selection of
deeper water and/or more stable water quality conditions
for spawning. We estimated the start and end
dates of the spawning season and calculated the total
hours of chorusing for silver perch, oyster toadfish,
spotted seatrout, and red drum. Each species followed
a specific seasonal and daily pattern of calling,
and we observed synchrony of these calling patterns
among stations. For silver perch, oyster toadfish,
black drum, and spotted seatrout, a negative tem -
perature anomaly correlated with decreased calling
intensity, while a positive anomaly increased sound
production. For oyster toadfish and spotted seatrout,
the lunar phase significantly influenced calling.
These data serve as a foundation for future studies
that are investigating how climate variability may
affect seasonal spawning timelines and year class
strength of fish populations using passive acoustic
monitoring.
acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina
(USA), for a 9 mo period and estimate reproductive
timelines for a community of soniferous fishes.
Acoustic recorders were deployed to collect sound
samples for 2 min, every 20 min at 4 stations from the
source to the mouth from February to November
2013. We detected the acoustic presence of 6 fish
species: Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus,
black drum Pogonias cromis, silver perch Bairdiella
chrysoura, oyster toadfish Opsanus tau, spotted sea -
trout Cynoscion nebulosus, and red drum Sciaenops
ocellatus. Acoustic detection rates and diversity of
soniferous fish were higher near the mouth and de -
creased towards the source, suggesting a selection of
deeper water and/or more stable water quality conditions
for spawning. We estimated the start and end
dates of the spawning season and calculated the total
hours of chorusing for silver perch, oyster toadfish,
spotted seatrout, and red drum. Each species followed
a specific seasonal and daily pattern of calling,
and we observed synchrony of these calling patterns
among stations. For silver perch, oyster toadfish,
black drum, and spotted seatrout, a negative tem -
perature anomaly correlated with decreased calling
intensity, while a positive anomaly increased sound
production. For oyster toadfish and spotted seatrout,
the lunar phase significantly influenced calling.
These data serve as a foundation for future studies
that are investigating how climate variability may
affect seasonal spawning timelines and year class
strength of fish populations using passive acoustic
monitoring.