Data from: Marine soundscape shaped by fishing activity

Marine communities face anthropogenic pressures that degrade ecosystems. Because underwater soundscapes carry information about habitat quality, we explored whether destructive impacts of fishing could be evaluated via the soundscape. Maerl beds are recognized as biodiversity hotspots and they experience major worldwide degradation owing to fishing. We collected field acoustic recordings in maerl beds exposed to different fishing practices. We found that unfished maerl beds were threefold louder and exhibited sound frequencies more diversified than those recorded in fished maerl beds. Analyses of associated fauna samples indicated that snapping shrimps provided a major contribution to the maerl bed soundscape. Moreover, sea urchins and squat lobsters most likely contributed to differences between the soundscapes of unfished and fished maerl beds. Our results supported the idea that the soundscape can provide valuable information on maerl bed ecosystem health related to fishing activity.

海洋生物群落正面临着引发生态系统退化的人为活动压力。水下声景（underwater soundscape）承载着栖息地质量的相关信息，基于此，本研究探讨了能否通过水下声景评估渔业活动的破坏性影响。藻石床（maerl beds）作为公认的生物多样性热点区域，因渔业活动在全球范围内遭受严重退化。本研究在受不同渔业作业方式干扰的藻石床中开展了野外声学录制工作。研究结果表明，未受捕捞的藻石床其声学强度为受捕捞藻石床的三倍，且声音频率分布更为多样。对伴生动物样本的分析显示，鼓虾（snapping shrimps）是藻石床声景的主要声学贡献来源。此外，海胆与铠甲虾（squat lobsters）大概率是造成未捕捞与受捕捞藻石床声景差异的关键因素。本研究结果证实，水下声景可为评估与渔业活动相关的藻石床生态系统健康状况提供极具价值的参考依据。