Abstract:Biodiversity in freshwater habitats is decreasing faster than in any other type of environment, mostly as a result of human activities. Monitoring these losses can help guide mitigation efforts. In most studies, sampling strategies predominantly rely on collecting animal and vegetal specimens. Although these techniques produce valuable data, they are invasive, time‐consuming and typically permit only limited spatial and temporal replication. There is need for the development of complementary methods.
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“…This allowed inspection of the most common classes of sounds and their temporal distribution and frequency band. Although sound‐based species identification is still impossible for most species in freshwater environments due to the limits of scientific knowledge and the lack of sound libraries (Anderson et al, ; Desjonquères, Gifford, & Linke, ; Desjonquères, Rybak, Castella, Llusia, & Sueur, ; Desjonquères et al, ; Linke, Decker, et al, ), we had sufficient knowledge to recognise major biological groups signalling in these sites as well as abiotic sounds.…”
Passive acoustic monitoring is gaining momentum as a viable alternative method to surveying freshwater ecosystems. As part of an emerging field, the spatio‐temporal replication levels of these sampling methods need to be standardised. However, in shallow waters, acoustic spatio‐temporal patchiness remains virtually unexplored.
In this paper, we specifically investigate the spatial heterogeneity in underwater sounds observed within and between waterholes of an ephemeral river at different times of the day and how it could affect sampling in passive acoustic monitoring.
We recorded in the Einasleigh River, Queensland in August 2016, using a linear transect of hydrophones mounted on frames. We recorded four times a day: at dawn, midday, dusk, and midnight. To measure different temporal and spectral attributes of the recorded sound, we investigated the mean frequency spectrum and computed acoustic indices.
Both mean frequency spectrum and index analyses revealed that the site and diel activity patterns significantly influenced the sounds recorded, even for adjacent sites with similar characteristics along a single river. We found that most of the variation was due to temporal patterns, followed by between‐site differences, while within‐site differences had limited influence.
This study demonstrates high spatio‐temporal acoustic variability in freshwater environments, linked to different species or species groups. Decisions about sampling design are vital to obtain adequate representation. This study thus emphasises the need to tailor spatio‐temporal settings of a sampling design to the aim of the study, the species and the habitat.
“…This allowed inspection of the most common classes of sounds and their temporal distribution and frequency band. Although sound‐based species identification is still impossible for most species in freshwater environments due to the limits of scientific knowledge and the lack of sound libraries (Anderson et al, ; Desjonquères, Gifford, & Linke, ; Desjonquères, Rybak, Castella, Llusia, & Sueur, ; Desjonquères et al, ; Linke, Decker, et al, ), we had sufficient knowledge to recognise major biological groups signalling in these sites as well as abiotic sounds.…”
Passive acoustic monitoring is gaining momentum as a viable alternative method to surveying freshwater ecosystems. As part of an emerging field, the spatio‐temporal replication levels of these sampling methods need to be standardised. However, in shallow waters, acoustic spatio‐temporal patchiness remains virtually unexplored.
In this paper, we specifically investigate the spatial heterogeneity in underwater sounds observed within and between waterholes of an ephemeral river at different times of the day and how it could affect sampling in passive acoustic monitoring.
We recorded in the Einasleigh River, Queensland in August 2016, using a linear transect of hydrophones mounted on frames. We recorded four times a day: at dawn, midday, dusk, and midnight. To measure different temporal and spectral attributes of the recorded sound, we investigated the mean frequency spectrum and computed acoustic indices.
Both mean frequency spectrum and index analyses revealed that the site and diel activity patterns significantly influenced the sounds recorded, even for adjacent sites with similar characteristics along a single river. We found that most of the variation was due to temporal patterns, followed by between‐site differences, while within‐site differences had limited influence.
This study demonstrates high spatio‐temporal acoustic variability in freshwater environments, linked to different species or species groups. Decisions about sampling design are vital to obtain adequate representation. This study thus emphasises the need to tailor spatio‐temporal settings of a sampling design to the aim of the study, the species and the habitat.
“…Many species of arthropod are ecologically significant, such as the signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus and the killer shrimp Dikerogammarus villosus , which are highly invasive in freshwater ecosystems around the world (Bubb, Thom, & Lucas, ; MacNeil, Boets, & Platvoet, ). Several species of crayfish are known to produce sound, including the invasive red swamp crayfish (Favaro, Tirelli, Gamba, & Pessani, ) and the endangered white‐clawed crayfish (Desjonquères, ). Furthermore, mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, water beetles and crayfish exist across broad environmental gradients and are useful indicators of environmental change (Muralidharan, Selvakumar, Sundar, & Raja, ).…”
Section: Taxonomic Focus Of Freshwater Bioacoustic Studiesmentioning
Conventional methodologies used to estimate biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems can be nonselective and invasive, sometimes leading to capture and potential injury of vulnerable species. Therefore, interest in noninvasive surveying techniques is growing among freshwater ecologists. Passive acoustic monitoring, the noninvasive recording of environmental sounds, has been shown to effectively survey biota in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. However, knowledge of the sounds produced by freshwater species is relatively scarce. Furthermore, little is known about the representation of different freshwater taxonomic groups and habitat types within the literature. Here we present results of a systematic review of research literature on freshwater bioacoustics and identify promising areas of future research. The review showed that fish are the focal taxonomic group in 44% of published studies and were studied primarily in laboratory aquaria and lotic habitats. By contrast, lentic habitats and other taxonomic groups have received relatively little research interest. It is particularly striking that arthropods are only represented by 26% of studies, despite their significant contributions to freshwater soundscapes. This indicates a mismatch between the representation of taxonomic groups within the freshwater bioacoustic literature and their relative acoustic contribution to natural freshwater soundscapes. In addition, the review indicates an ongoing shift from behavioral studies, often with focus on a single taxonomic group, towards fieldbased studies using ecoacoustic approaches. On the basis of this review we suggest that future freshwater bioacoustics research should focus on passive acoustic monitoring and arthropod sound, which would likely yield novel insights into freshwater ecosystem function and condition.
“…In freshwater environments, four main groups are known to produce sounds: amphibians, crustaceans, fish, and insects (for a detailed discussion, see Desjonquères, Gifford & Linke, , also see Figure ). Unlike terrestrial bioacoustics, where the organisms emitting sounds are often clearly visible, underwater acoustics is often not accompanied by visual surveys.…”
Section: Characterising Sounds and Linking Occurrences To Organisms Amentioning
confidence: 99%
“…We hope that both scientists and practitioners will use this special issue both as a compendium and an inspiration to operationalise ecoacoustic analysis in freshwater ecosystem. In this issue, we provide a compendium to get users started with principles of underwater acoustics and applied analysis methods (Desjonquères, Gifford, et al, ). The issue then follows on to demonstrate applications, both underwater and for water‐dependent ecosystems.…”
Applications in bioacoustics and its sister discipline ecoacoustics have increased exponentially over the last decade. However, despite knowledge about aquatic bioacoustics dating back to the times of Aristotle and a vast amount of background literature to draw upon, freshwater applications of ecoacoustics have been lagging to date.
In this special issue, we present nine studies that deal with underwater acoustics, plus three acoustic studies on water‐dependent birds and frogs. Topics include automatic detection of freshwater organisms by their calls, quantifying habitat change by analysing entire soundscapes, and detecting change in behaviour when organisms are exposed to noise.
We identify six major challenges and review progress through this special issue. Challenges include characterisation of sounds, accessibility of archived sounds as well as improving automated analysis methods. Study design considerations include characterisation analysis challenges of spatial and temporal variation. The final key challenge is the so far largely understudied link between ecological condition and underwater sound.
We hope that this special issue will raise awareness about underwater soundscapes as a survey tool. With a diverse array of field and analysis tools, this issue can act as a manual for future monitoring applications that will hopefully foster further advances in the field.
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