Journal of Ecoacoustics

(ISSN: 2516-1466) Open Access Journal
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JEA 2018, 2(1), 3; doi: 10.22261/JEA.STBDH1

Drifting hydrophones as an ecologically meaningful approach to underwater soundscape measurement in coastal benthic habitats

1 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, USA 02543
2 Department of Marine, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA 27695-8208
3 Center for Marine Sciences & Technology, North Carolina State University, Morehead City, NC, USA 28557
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 10 Oct 2017 / Accepted: 3 Jan 2018 / Published: 6 Feb 2018
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Abstract

The ambient acoustic environment, or soundscape, is of broad interest in the study of marine ecosystems as both a source of rich sensory information to marine organisms and, more broadly, as a driver of the structure and function of marine communities. Increasing our understanding of how soundscapes affect and reflect ecological processes first requires appropriate characterization of the acoustic stimuli, and their patterns in space and time. Here, we present a novel method developed for measuring soundscape variation, using drifting acoustic recorders to quantify acoustic dynamics related to benthic habitat composition. Selected examples of drifter results from sub-tidal oyster-reef habitats in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, USA, and from coral reef habitats in St. John, US Virgin Islands, highlight the efficacy and utility of this approach in quantifying soundscape variation in diverse habitats. The platform introduces minimal noise into the acoustic recordings, and allows sampling at spatial scales that might typically be overlooked using stationary hydrophone methods. We demonstrate that mobile hydrophone recording methods offer new insight into soundscape variation and provide a complementary approach to conventional passive acoustic monitoring techniques.
Keywords: benthic ecology; acoustic cues; soundscape measurement; habitat-related sound; benthic communities; drifters
OPEN ACCESS
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
CITE
Lillis, A.; Caruso, F.; Mooney, T.A.; Llopiz, J.; Bohnenstiehl, D.; Eggleston, D.B. Drifting hydrophones as an ecologically meaningful approach to underwater soundscape measurement in coastal benthic habitats. JEA 2018, 2, 3.
Lillis A, Caruso F, Mooney TA, Llopiz J, Bohnenstiehl D, Eggleston DB. Drifting hydrophones as an ecologically meaningful approach to underwater soundscape measurement in coastal benthic habitats. Journal of Ecoacoustics. 2018; 2(1):3.
Lillis, Ashlee; Caruso, Francesco; Mooney, T. Aran; Llopiz, Joel; Bohnenstiehl, DelWayne; Eggleston, David B. 2018. "Drifting hydrophones as an ecologically meaningful approach to underwater soundscape measurement in coastal benthic habitats." JEA 2, no. 1: 3.
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