ABSTRACT: Marine soundscapes often differ among habitats; however, relatively little is known about whether soundscapes on naturally occurring habitats differ from soundscapes on human-made structures. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated whether temporal and spectral characteristics of biological sound production differ between natural and artificial offshore reefs. Specifically, we analyzed recordings from 5 week-long hydrophone deployments on 2 natural rocky reefs and 2 artificial reefs on the North Carolina, USA, continental shelf. Analysis of sound pressure levels (SPLs) on hourly and seasonal scales revealed similar temporal patterns between the reef types. These patterns were largely driven by 4 dominant fish vocalizers with seasonal chorusing patterns, including a toadfish Opsanus sp. Despite similar temporal patterns within reef types, soundscape spectral content was more similar within than between reef types, especially during the April deployment, which had the most acoustic activity. Our findings suggest that the soundscapes of shipwreck artificial reefs may differ from the soundscapes of natural rocky reefs, possibly due to differing community composition. As sound plays an important role in the navigation and settlement of many marine species, soundscape differences between natural and artificial habitats could affect ecosystem function through species behavior and interactions.

中文翻译：

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天然和人工温带礁石的音景：相似的时间模式但光谱成分不同

摘要：海洋声景通常在栖息地之间有所不同。然而，关于自然栖息地上的声景与人造结构上的声景是否有所不同的知之甚少。为了解决这一知识鸿沟，我们调查了天然和人工近海礁石之间生物声音产生的时间和频谱特征是否不同。具体来说，我们分析了在美国北卡罗来纳州大陆架上2个天然岩石礁石和2个人工礁石上进行的为期5周的水听器部署的记录。对小时和季节尺度的声压级（SPL）进行分析后发现，礁石类型之间的时间格局相似。这些模式主要是由4种具有季节性合唱模式的主要鱼类发声器驱动的，其中包括蟾蜍Opsanussp。尽管礁石类型内的时间模式相似，但与礁石类型之间的声景频谱含量相比，礁石类型之间的相似性更高，尤其是在4月部署期间，其声音活动最多。我们的发现表明，沉船人工礁石的声景可能与天然岩石礁石的声景不同，这可能是由于社区组成不同所致。由于声音在许多海洋物种的航行和定居中起着重要作用，自然栖息地和人工栖息地之间的声景差异可能会通过物种行为和相互作用影响生态系统功能。