PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Coral reefs, hubs of global biodiversity, are among the world\'s most imperilled habitats. Healthy coral reefs are characterized by distinctive soundscapes; these environments are rich with sounds produced by fishes and marine invertebrates. Emerging evidence suggests these sounds can be used as orientation and settlement cues for larvae of reef animals. On degraded reefs, these cues may be reduced or absent, impeding the success of larval settlement, which is an essential process for the maintenance and replenishment of reef populations. Here, in a field-based study, we evaluated the effects of enriching the soundscape of a degraded coral reef to increase coral settlement rates. Porites astreoides larvae were exposed to reef sounds using a custom solar-powered acoustic playback system. Porites astreoides settled at significantly higher rates at the acoustically enriched sites, averaging 1.7 times (up to maximum of seven times) more settlement compared with control reef sites without acoustic enrichment. Settlement rates decreased with distance from the speaker but remained higher than control levels at least 30 m from the sound source. These results reveal that acoustic enrichment can facilitate coral larval settlement at reasonable distances, offering a promising new method for scientists, managers and restoration practitioners to rebuild coral reefs.
摘要：
珊瑚礁,全球生物多样性中心，是世界上最危险的栖息地之一。健康的珊瑚礁的特点是独特的音景；这些环境充满了鱼类和海洋无脊椎动物产生的声音。新出现的证据表明，这些声音可以用作珊瑚礁动物幼虫的定向和沉降线索。在退化的珊瑚礁上，这些线索可能会减少或缺失，阻碍幼虫定居的成功，这是维持和补充珊瑚礁种群的重要过程。这里,在一项实地研究中，我们评估了丰富退化珊瑚礁的声景以增加珊瑚沉降率的影响。使用定制的太阳能声学回放系统，将孔雀石幼虫暴露于珊瑚礁声音。在声学丰富的地点，孔雀石以明显更高的速度沉降，与没有声富集的对照礁站点相比，平均沉降量增加1.7倍（最多7倍）。沉降率随着距扬声器的距离而降低，但仍高于距声源至少30m的控制水平。这些结果表明，声学富集可以促进珊瑚幼虫在合理距离的沉降，为科学家提供了一种有希望的新方法，管理人员和修复从业者重建珊瑚礁。
