Data from: McCormick, Fakan, Nedelec & Allan - Effects of boat noise on fish fast-start escape response depend on engine type

Dataset for manuscript.

Abstract [Related Publication]: Vessel noise represents a relatively recent but rapidly increasing form of pollution, which affects the many organisms that use sound to inform their behavioural decisions. Recent research shows that anthropogenic noise can lead to reduced responsiveness to risk and higher mortality. The current laboratory experiment determined whether the playback of noise from motorboats powered by two- or four-stroke outboard engines affected the kinematics of the fast-start response in a juvenile coral reef fish, and the time scale over which the effects may occur. Results show that the two engine types produce slightly different sound spectra, which influence fish differently. Playback of 2-stroke engines had the greatest effect on activity, but only for a brief period (45s). While noise from 4-stroke outboard engines affected fast-start kinematics, they had half the impact of noise from 2-stroke engines. Two-stroke engine noise affected routine swimming more than 4-stroke engines, while 4-stroke noise had a greater effect on the speed at which fish responded to a startle. Evidence suggests that the source of the noise pollution will have a major influence on the way marine organisms will respond, and this gives managers an important tool whereby they may reduce the effects of noise pollution on protected communities.   

Keywords: Acoustics; boat noise; coral reef fish; fast-start kinematics; outboard engines; predator-prey interactions

Spreadsheet contains 2 sheets:

  1. Latency, routine swimming etc. 
  2. Routine swimming in 15s blocks

 The full methodology is available in the Open Access publication from the Related Publications link below.

 

    Data Record Details
    Data record related to this publication Data from: McCormick, Fakan, Nedelec & Allan - Effects of boat noise on fish fast-start escape response depend on engine type
    Data Publication title Data from: McCormick, Fakan, Nedelec & Allan - Effects of boat noise on fish fast-start escape response depend on engine type
  • Description

    Dataset for manuscript.

    Abstract [Related Publication]: Vessel noise represents a relatively recent but rapidly increasing form of pollution, which affects the many organisms that use sound to inform their behavioural decisions. Recent research shows that anthropogenic noise can lead to reduced responsiveness to risk and higher mortality. The current laboratory experiment determined whether the playback of noise from motorboats powered by two- or four-stroke outboard engines affected the kinematics of the fast-start response in a juvenile coral reef fish, and the time scale over which the effects may occur. Results show that the two engine types produce slightly different sound spectra, which influence fish differently. Playback of 2-stroke engines had the greatest effect on activity, but only for a brief period (45s). While noise from 4-stroke outboard engines affected fast-start kinematics, they had half the impact of noise from 2-stroke engines. Two-stroke engine noise affected routine swimming more than 4-stroke engines, while 4-stroke noise had a greater effect on the speed at which fish responded to a startle. Evidence suggests that the source of the noise pollution will have a major influence on the way marine organisms will respond, and this gives managers an important tool whereby they may reduce the effects of noise pollution on protected communities.   

    Keywords: Acoustics; boat noise; coral reef fish; fast-start kinematics; outboard engines; predator-prey interactions

    Spreadsheet contains 2 sheets:

    1. Latency, routine swimming etc. 
    2. Routine swimming in 15s blocks

     The full methodology is available in the Open Access publication from the Related Publications link below.

     

  • Other Descriptors
    • Descriptor

      This dataset is available as a spreadsheet in MS Excel (.xlsx) and Open Document formats (.ods)

    • Descriptor type Note
  • Data type dataset
  • Keywords
    • coral reef fish
    • anthropogenic noise
    • boat sound
    • risk assessment
    • burst response
    • performance
    • behavioural ecology
    • ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
  • Funding source
  • Research grant(s)/Scheme name(s)
  • Research themes
    Tropical Ecosystems, Conservation and Climate Change
    FoR Codes (*)
    SEO Codes
    Specify spatial or temporal setting of the data
    Temporal (time) coverage
  • Start Date
  • End Date
  • Time Period Feb 2017
    Spatial (location) coverage
  • Locations
    • Lizard Island, northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia
  • Related publications
      Name McCormick, M.I., Fakan, E.P., Nedelec, S.L. et al. (2019) Effects of boat noise on fish fast-start escape response depend on engine type. Scientific Reports. 9, 6554.
    • URL https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43099-5
    • Notes Open Access
  • Related websites
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    • Notes
  • Related metadata (including standards, codebooks, vocabularies, thesauri, ontologies)
  • Related data
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    • Notes
    Citation McCormick, Mark; Allan, Bridie (2018): Data from: McCormick, Fakan, Nedelec & Allan - Effects of boat noise on fish fast-start escape response depend on engine type. James Cook University. https://doi.org/10.25903/5b8cac554a2b0