Data from: Lost at sea: ocean acidification undermines larval fish orientation via altered hearing and marine soundscape modification

The dispersal of larvae and their settlement to suitable habitat is fundamental to the replenishment of marine populations and the communities in which they live. Sound plays an important role in this process because for larvae of various species it acts as an orientational cue towards suitable settlement habitat. Because marine sounds are largely of biological origin, they not only carry information about the location of potential habitat, but also information about the quality of habitat. While ocean acidification is known to affect a wide range of marine organisms and processes, its effect on marine soundscapes and its reception by navigating oceanic larvae remains unknown. Here we show that ocean acidification causes a switch in role of present-day soundscapes from attractor to repellent in the auditory preferences in a temperate larval fish. Using natural CO2 vents as analogues of future ocean conditions, we further reveal that ocean acidification can impact marine soundscapes by profoundly diminishing their biological sound production. An altered soundscape poorer in biological cues indirectly penalizes oceanic larvae at settlement stage because both control and CO2 treated fish larvae showed lack of any response to such future soundscapes. These indirect and direct effects of ocean acidification put at risk the complex processes of larval dispersal and settlement.

幼体扩散及其向适宜生境的定居过程，是海洋种群及其栖息群落补充更新的核心基础。声音在此过程中发挥关键作用：对于诸多物种的幼体而言，声音可作为导向适宜定居生境的定向线索。由于海洋声响大多源自生物活动，其不仅能传递潜在生境的位置信息，还能揭示生境的质量状况。尽管已知海洋酸化（ocean acidification）会影响诸多海洋生物与生态过程，但其对海洋声景（marine soundscapes）的影响，以及远洋扩散幼体对声景的感知能力，目前仍未明确。本研究表明，海洋酸化会使一种温带仔鱼的听觉偏好发生转变：将现今海洋声景的作用从“吸引因子”转为“驱避因子”。本研究以天然CO₂喷口作为未来海洋环境的模拟体系，进一步揭示海洋酸化可通过大幅降低声景中的生物发声水平，进而改变海洋声景。生物线索大幅缺失的改变后声景，会间接对定居阶段的远洋幼体产生不利影响——因为无论是对照组幼体还是经CO₂处理的仔鱼，均未对这类未来声景表现出任何响应。海洋酸化带来的这些间接与直接效应，会对幼体扩散与定居的复杂生态过程构成威胁。