Abstract
Acoustic recording has been recognized as a valuable tool for non-intrusive monitoring of the marine environment, complementing traditional visual surveys. Acoustic surveys conducted on coral ecosystems have so far been restricted to barrier reefs and to shallow depths (10–30 m). Since they may provide refuge for coral reef organisms, the monitoring of outer reef slopes and describing of the soundscapes of deeper environment could provide insights into the characteristics of different biotopes of coral ecosystems. In this study, the acoustic features of four different habitats, with different topographies and substrates, located at different depths from 10 to 100 m, were recorded during day-time on the outer reef slope of the north Coast of Moorea Island (French Polynesia). Barrier reefs appeared to be the noisiest habitats whereas the average sound levels at other habitats decreased with their distance from the reef and with increasing depth. However, sound levels were higher than expected by propagation models, supporting that these habitats possess their own sound sources. While reef sounds are known to attract marine larvae, sounds from deeper habitats may then also have a non-negligible attractive potential, coming into play before the reef itself.
Highlights
The existence of coral reefs at depths of more than 150 m in tropical regions has been known for decades (Fricke & Schuhmacher, 1983; Maragos & Jokiel, 1985; Kahng & Maragos, 2006)
The study was carried out at the end of the warm season, from June to July 2015, along three North-orientated seaward transects characterized by increasing depths, extending from the barrier reef (BR,
Recent studies on coral reefs have highlighted the positive relationships between sound signatures and coral cover, density of fishes or increased number of biotic sound sources in shallow waters (Kaplan et al, 2015; Nedelec et al, 2015; Bertucci et al, 2016)
Summary
The existence of coral reefs at depths of more than 150 m in tropical regions has been known for decades (Fricke & Schuhmacher, 1983; Maragos & Jokiel, 1985; Kahng & Maragos, 2006). How to cite this article Bertucci et al (2017), Snapshot recordings provide a first description of the acoustic signatures of deeper habitats adjacent to coral reefs of Moorea. Very little is known about MCEs, and the deeper habitats adjacent to coral reefs. As an example, being able to provide an acoustic description of such habitats may appear crucial for extending our current knowledge on marine soundscapes. It may provide insights into the qualities and characteristics of the deeper habitats associated with coral ecosystems (Staaterman et al, 2014; Bertucci et al, 2015; Nedelec et al, 2015; Bobryk et al, 2016)
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