Broadband sound propagation in a seagrass meadow throughout a diurnal cycle

Lee, Kevin M; Ballard, Megan S.; Venegas, Gabriel R.; Sagers, Jason D.; McNeese, Andrew R.; Johnson, Jay R.; Wilson, Preston S.; Rahman, Abdullah F.

doi:10.1121/1.5127737

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Finally, a strong diurnal pattern was observed, where detection probability was increasing during the day and declining at night. This is in concordance with findings in previous studies [14,19,27] and has been suggested to be caused by biological sources, such as macrophyte metabolism or animals that are nocturnally active and create background noise. Macrophytes produce oxygen via photosynthesis that is either emitted during day or stored at night [14] thus contributing to the attenuation of the acoustic signal.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…This is in concordance with findings in previous studies [14,19,27] and has been suggested to be caused by biological sources, such as macrophyte metabolism or animals that are nocturnally active and create background noise. Macrophytes produce oxygen via photosynthesis that is either emitted during day or stored at night [14] thus contributing to the attenuation of the acoustic signal. In the Rysstad Basin, the strong diurnal pattern in detection probability is most likely caused by the metabolism of the dense J. bulbosus stands and, therefore, not to be confused for fish behaviour as it may look like fish are hiding during the day but it is actually a loss of range.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

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Influence of dense macrophyte vegetation and total gas saturation on the performance of acoustic telemetry

2022

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Background Acoustic telemetry is widely used as a method for high resolution monitoring of aquatic animal movement to investigate relationships between individual animals and their environment. In shallow freshwater ecosystem, aquatic macrophytes are common and their presence increases habitat complexity and baffles sound propagation. These properties may be likely to affect the performance of acoustic telemetry, however, to date this issue has received little attention, when studying the ecology of movements of fishes in and around the important macrophyte habitats. Here, we conducted a range-test study in a freshwater riverine ecosystem, with mass development of the aquatic macrophyte Juncus bulbosus (L.), to assess how dense macrophytes impact detection probability, detection range, and performance of a three-dimensional receiver positioning system. Supersaturation of gas frequently occurs at the study site as a by-product of upstream hydroelectric power generation and gave a unique opportunity to investigate how total gas saturation affects the performance of acoustic telemetry. We also investigated the influence of environmental conditions (i.e., day-of-year, time of day, average water level above J. bulbosus) on detection probability together with vertical position of transmitters and location inside or outside macrophytes. Results The detection probability and range were generally low for transmitters in and outside J. bulbosus stands, with mean hourly detection probabilities ranging from 1.18 to 5% and detection ranges between 17.26 m ± 0.74. The interaction between total macrophyte biomass and distance to receiver reduced the detection probability and detection range substantially. Detection probability further decreased with increasing total gas saturation, and transmitters positioned near the sediment and close to the surface also had lower detection probabilities compared to receivers in the middle of the water column. Finally, the low detection probability affected position estimates, where only 23% of the detections could be positioned using the average positioning estimation method and positional accuracy and precision were low ranging from 1.48 to 164.8 m and 0 to 50.1 m, respectively. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate the impact of macrophytes and total gas saturation on detection probability and range of acoustic transmitters in a shallow ecosystem, where tagged fish are unlikely to be detected by receivers or positioned. These results emphasise that in situ range testing is strongly needed before determining the density and design of receiver array when performing acoustic telemetry studies in shallow ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Influence of dense macrophyte vegetation and total gas saturation on the performance of acoustic telemetry

2022

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“…Seagrass meadows contain a suite of unique conditions that pose challenges for the performance of acoustic telemetry. Most notably, the oxygen produced in photosynthesis by the plants and either stored in aerenchyma or emitted as bubbles can attenuate acoustic signals and alter sound wave velocity, thereby affecting VPS performance and error [34,35]. Furthermore, many fish species are known to regularly position themselves within the seagrass canopy to rest, shelter from predators or stalk prey [36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seagrass canopies and the performance of acoustic telemetry: implications for the interpretation of fish movements

et al. 2020

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Background: Acoustic telemetry has been used with great success to quantify the movements of marine fishes in open habitats, however research has begun to focus on patterns of movement and habitat usage within more structurally complex habitats. To date, there has been no detailed assessment of the performance of acoustic telemetry within seagrass, which forms a crucial nursery and foraging habitat for many fish species globally. Information on the detection range of acoustic receivers within seagrass is essential to guide receiver array design, particularly positioning systems. Here, we compare detection ranges for transmitters (Vemco V7) within and above the seagrass to determine impacts on the performance of a Vemco Positioning System (VPS). We also investigate the influence of environmental conditions (i.e. wind, time of day, background noise, atmospheric pressure and depth) on detection probability. Results: The performance of the VPS declined dramatically when the transmitters were positioned within the seagrass (positional accuracy = 2.69 m, precision = 0.9 m, system efficiency (i.e. the proportion of successful positions) = 5.9%) compared to above the canopy (positional accuracy = 2.21 m, precision = 0.45 m, system efficiency = 30.9%). The reduction in VPS efficiency when transmitters were within seagrass was caused by a decline in the detection range of receivers (range of 50% detections) from 85 to 40 m, as this limited the ability of the three receivers to simultaneously detect transmissions. Additionally, no detections were recorded for the transmitters within seagrass at a distance greater than 150 m from the receiver. Increasing wind speed from 0 to 50 km h −1 correlated with a 15% reduction in detections while detection probability decreased from 0.8 during the day to 0.55 at night, due to higher in-band noise (69 kHz). Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that tagged fish ensconced within seagrass are unlikely to be detected by receivers or positioned by a VPS. Further, we demonstrate that wind conditions and the time of day create temporal variation in detection probability. These findings highlight the need for telemetry studies to perform in situ range testing and consider how fish use vegetated habitats such as seagrasses when positioning receivers and interpreting data.

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Performance of acoustic telemetry in relation to submerged aquatic vegetation in a nearshore freshwater habitat

Weinz

Matley

Klinard

et al. 2021

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Broadband sound propagation in a seagrass meadow throughout a diurnal cycle

Abstract: Short-range propagation characteristics of airgun pulses during marine seismic reflection surveys

Cited by 6 publications

References 17 publications

Influence of dense macrophyte vegetation and total gas saturation on the performance of acoustic telemetry

Influence of dense macrophyte vegetation and total gas saturation on the performance of acoustic telemetry

Seagrass canopies and the performance of acoustic telemetry: implications for the interpretation of fish movements

Performance of acoustic telemetry in relation to submerged aquatic vegetation in a nearshore freshwater habitat

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