Animal Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, D- 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Ecological Research Station Rees, Institute for Zoology, University of Cologne, Grietherbusch 3a, D-46459 Rees, Germany.
MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA - Instituto Universitário, Lisbon, Portugal.
Environ Pollut. 2018 Jun;237:814-823. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.11.003. Epub 2017 Nov 14.
There are substantial concerns that increasing levels of anthropogenic noise in the oceans may impact aquatic animals. Noise can affect animals physically, physiologically and behaviourally, but one of the most obvious effects is interference with acoustic communication. Acoustic communication often plays a crucial role in reproductive interactions and over 800 species of fish have been found to communicate acoustically. There is very little data on whether noise affects reproduction in aquatic animals, and none in relation to acoustic communication. In this study we tested the effect of continuous noise on courtship behaviour in two closely-related marine fishes: the two-spotted goby (Gobiusculus flavescens) and the painted goby (Pomatoschistus pictus) in aquarium experiments. Both species use visual and acoustic signals during courtship. In the two-spotted goby we used a repeated-measures design testing the same individuals in the noise and the control treatment, in alternating order. For the painted goby we allowed females to spawn, precluding a repeated-measures design, but permitting a test of the effect of noise on female spawning decisions. Males of both species reduced acoustic courtship, but only painted gobies also showed less visual courtship in the noise treatment compared to the control. Female painted gobies were less likely to spawn in the noise treatment. Thus, our results provide experimental evidence for negative effects of noise on acoustic communication and spawning success. Spawning is a crucial component of reproduction. Therefore, even though laboratory results should not be extrapolated directly to field populations, our results suggest that reproductive success may be sensitive to noise pollution, potentially reducing fitness.
人们非常担心海洋中人为噪声水平的增加可能会对水生动物造成影响。噪声会对动物的身体、生理和行为产生影响，但最明显的影响之一是对声通讯的干扰。声通讯在生殖相互作用中常常起着至关重要的作用，已经发现超过 800 种鱼类通过声通讯进行交流。关于噪声是否会影响水生动物的繁殖，目前的数据很少，关于声通讯的则更少。在这项研究中，我们在水族馆实验中测试了连续噪声对两种密切相关的海洋鱼类求偶行为的影响：双斑钩虾虎鱼（Gobiusculus flavescens）和花斑钩虾虎鱼（Pomatoschistus pictus）。这两个物种在求偶过程中都使用视觉和声学信号。在双斑钩虾虎鱼中，我们使用重复测量设计，在噪声和对照处理中交替测试同一个体。对于花斑钩虾虎鱼，我们允许雌性产卵，排除了重复测量设计，但允许测试噪声对雌性产卵决策的影响。这两个物种的雄性都减少了声学求偶，但与对照相比，只有花斑钩虾虎鱼在噪声处理中表现出较少的视觉求偶。花斑钩虾虎鱼的雌性产卵的可能性更小。因此，我们的结果为噪声对声通讯和产卵成功率的负面影响提供了实验证据。产卵是繁殖的关键组成部分。因此，即使实验室结果不应直接外推到野外种群，我们的结果表明，繁殖成功率可能对噪声污染敏感，可能会降低适应度。
