ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and Department of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia.
Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK.
Sci Rep. 2019 Apr 25;9(1):6554. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-43099-5.
Vessel noise represents a relatively recent but rapidly increasing form of pollution, which affects the many organisms that use sound to inform their behavioural decisions. Recent research shows that anthropogenic noise can lead to reduced responsiveness to risk and higher mortality. The current laboratory experiment determined whether the playback of noise from motorboats powered by two- or four-stroke outboard engines affected the kinematics of the fast-start response in a juvenile coral reef fish, and the time scale over which the effects may occur. Results show that the two engine types produce slightly different sound spectra, which influence fish differently. Playback of 2-stroke engines had the greatest effect on activity, but only for a brief period (45 s). While noise from 4-stroke outboard engines affected fast-start kinematics, they had half the impact of noise from 2-stroke engines. Two-stroke engine noise affected routine swimming more than 4-stroke engines, while 4-stroke noise had a greater effect on the speed at which fish responded to a startle. Evidence suggests that the source of the noise pollution will have a major influence on the way marine organisms will respond, and this gives managers an important tool whereby they may reduce the effects of noise pollution on protected communities.
船舶噪音是一种相对较新但增长迅速的污染形式，它影响到许多利用声音来指导行为决策的生物。最近的研究表明，人为噪声会导致风险反应降低和死亡率升高。本实验室实验旨在确定机动船的发动机（二冲程或四冲程舷外发动机）产生的噪音是否会影响幼年珊瑚礁鱼快速启动反应的运动学，并确定可能发生影响的时间尺度。结果表明，两种发动机类型产生的声音频谱略有不同，对鱼类的影响也不同。二冲程发动机的回放对活动的影响最大，但仅持续很短的时间（45 秒）。虽然四冲程舷外发动机产生的噪音会影响快速启动的运动学，但它们的影响只有二冲程发动机的一半。二冲程发动机的噪音比四冲程发动机更能影响日常游泳，而四冲程发动机的噪音对鱼类对惊吓的反应速度影响更大。有证据表明，噪声污染的来源将对海洋生物的反应方式产生重大影响，这为管理者提供了一个重要的工具，他们可以通过该工具减少噪声污染对受保护群体的影响。
