Method for Assessing the Soundscape in a Marine Artificial Environment

We applied standard acoustic methods to record, analyze and compare anthropogenic and biological signals belonging to the soundscape of artificial marine habitats. The study was conducted on two tanks located at the Acquario di Genova (Italy), the “Red Sea” and the “Tropical Lagoon” tanks, which rep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2022-08, Vol.14 (16), p.10359
Main Authors: Benocci, R, Asnaghi, E, Bisceglie, A, Lavorano, S, Galli, P, Roman, H. E, Zambon, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic properties
Acoustics
Animal behavior
Anthropogenic factors
Aquatic animals
Aquatic habitats
Artificial environments
Artificial reefs
Background noise
Caretta caretta
Climate change
Coral reefs
Environmental aspects
Fish
Habitats
Lagoons
Marine environment
Remote sensing
Sound
Soundscapes
Tanks
Testing
Time series
Underwater acoustics
Water temperature
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Summary:We applied standard acoustic methods to record, analyze and compare anthropogenic and biological signals belonging to the soundscape of artificial marine habitats. The study was conducted on two tanks located at the Acquario di Genova (Italy), the “Red Sea” and the “Tropical Lagoon” tanks, which represent different living environments hosting a variety of species and background sounds. The use of seven eco-acoustic indices, whose time series spanned the entire period of study, allowed the characterization of the environments. We investigated the extent to which eco-acoustic indices might describe the soundscape in an artificial marine environment surrounded by a background of mechanical noise, overlapping the diurnal/nocturnal fish chorusing produced by soniferous species. Three specific types of sounds emerged: (1) mechanical ones produced by the life-support system of the tanks; (2) anthropic origin ones due to maintenance and introduction of food; and (3) temporal trends associated with day/night cycles, especially impacted by artificial lighting. We searched for selected spectral patterns that were correlated to the time series of the eco-acoustic indices. The observed activity was found to be consistent with the sound emission of three specific fish species hosted in the tanks. The power spectral density (PSD) confirmed the presence of correlated signals (at 95th and 99th percentiles) for the identified frequency intervals. We expect that this method could be useful for studying the behavior of aquatic animals without intruding into their habitats.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su141610359