Estimating fish abundance at spawning aggregations from courtship sound levels

Abstract Sound produced by fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) permits the use of passive acoustic methods to identify the timing and location of spawning. However, difficulties in relating sound levels to abundance have impeded the use of passive acoustics to conduct quantitative assessments of bioma...

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Autores principales: Timothy J. Rowell, David A. Demer, Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, Juan José Cota-Nieto, John R. Hyde, Brad E. Erisman
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2017
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/c63321c1121947cd8009bcdd2225d366
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:c63321c1121947cd8009bcdd2225d3662021-12-02T11:41:00ZEstimating fish abundance at spawning aggregations from courtship sound levels10.1038/s41598-017-03383-82045-2322https://doaj.org/article/c63321c1121947cd8009bcdd2225d3662017-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03383-8https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Sound produced by fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) permits the use of passive acoustic methods to identify the timing and location of spawning. However, difficulties in relating sound levels to abundance have impeded the use of passive acoustics to conduct quantitative assessments of biomass. Here we show that models of measured fish sound production versus independently measured fish density can be generated to estimate abundance and biomass from sound levels at FSAs. We compared sound levels produced by spawning Gulf Corvina (Cynoscion othonopterus) with simultaneous measurements of density from active acoustic surveys in the Colorado River Delta, Mexico. During the formation of FSAs, we estimated peak abundance at 1.53 to 1.55 million fish, which equated to a biomass of 2,133 to 2,145 metric tons. Sound levels ranged from 0.02 to 12,738 Pa2, with larger measurements observed on outgoing tides. The relationship between sound levels and densities was variable across the duration of surveys but stabilized during the peak spawning period after high tide to produce a linear relationship. Our results support the use of active acoustic methods to estimate density, abundance, and biomass of fish at FSAs; using appropriately scaled empirical relationships, sound levels can be used to infer these estimates.Timothy J. RowellDavid A. DemerOctavio Aburto-OropezaJuan José Cota-NietoJohn R. HydeBrad E. ErismanNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2017)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Timothy J. Rowell
David A. Demer
Octavio Aburto-Oropeza
Juan José Cota-Nieto
John R. Hyde
Brad E. Erisman
Estimating fish abundance at spawning aggregations from courtship sound levels
description Abstract Sound produced by fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) permits the use of passive acoustic methods to identify the timing and location of spawning. However, difficulties in relating sound levels to abundance have impeded the use of passive acoustics to conduct quantitative assessments of biomass. Here we show that models of measured fish sound production versus independently measured fish density can be generated to estimate abundance and biomass from sound levels at FSAs. We compared sound levels produced by spawning Gulf Corvina (Cynoscion othonopterus) with simultaneous measurements of density from active acoustic surveys in the Colorado River Delta, Mexico. During the formation of FSAs, we estimated peak abundance at 1.53 to 1.55 million fish, which equated to a biomass of 2,133 to 2,145 metric tons. Sound levels ranged from 0.02 to 12,738 Pa2, with larger measurements observed on outgoing tides. The relationship between sound levels and densities was variable across the duration of surveys but stabilized during the peak spawning period after high tide to produce a linear relationship. Our results support the use of active acoustic methods to estimate density, abundance, and biomass of fish at FSAs; using appropriately scaled empirical relationships, sound levels can be used to infer these estimates.
format article
author Timothy J. Rowell
David A. Demer
Octavio Aburto-Oropeza
Juan José Cota-Nieto
John R. Hyde
Brad E. Erisman
author_facet Timothy J. Rowell
David A. Demer
Octavio Aburto-Oropeza
Juan José Cota-Nieto
John R. Hyde
Brad E. Erisman
author_sort Timothy J. Rowell
title Estimating fish abundance at spawning aggregations from courtship sound levels
title_short Estimating fish abundance at spawning aggregations from courtship sound levels
title_full Estimating fish abundance at spawning aggregations from courtship sound levels
title_fullStr Estimating fish abundance at spawning aggregations from courtship sound levels
title_full_unstemmed Estimating fish abundance at spawning aggregations from courtship sound levels
title_sort estimating fish abundance at spawning aggregations from courtship sound levels
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2017
url https://doaj.org/article/c63321c1121947cd8009bcdd2225d366
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