title: Anthropogenic noise playback impairs embryonic development and increases mortality in a marine invertebrate.
abstract: Human activities can create noise pollution and there is increasing international concern about how this may impact wildlife. There is evidence that anthropogenic noise may have detrimental effects on behaviour and physiology in many species but there are few examples of experiments showing how fitness may be directly affected. Here we use a split-brood, counterbalanced, field experiment to investigate the effect of repeated boat-noise playback during early life on the development and survival of a marine invertebrate, the sea hare Stylocheilus striatus at Moorea Island (French Polynesia). We found that exposure to boat-noise playback, compared to ambient-noise playback, reduced successful development of embryos by 21% and additionally increased mortality of recently hatched larvae by 22%. Our work, on an understudied but ecologically and socio-economically important taxon, demonstrates that anthropogenic noise can affect individual fitness. Fitness costs early in life have a fundamental influence on population dynamics and resilience, with potential implications for community structure and function.
authors: 1] School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ [2] USR 3278 CRIOBE CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, CRIOBE BP 1013 Moorea, 98729 Polynésie francaise.
authors: Sophie L
authors: SL
authors: Nedelec
authors: School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ.
authors: Andrew N
authors: AN
authors: Radford
authors: Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK.
authors: Stephen D
authors: SD
authors: Simpson
authors: 1] School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ [2] USR 3278 CRIOBE CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, CRIOBE BP 1013 Moorea, 98729 Polynésie francaise.
authors: Brendan
authors: B
authors: Nedelec
authors: 1] USR 3278 CRIOBE CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, CRIOBE BP 1013 Moorea, 98729 Polynésie francaise [2] Laboratoire d'Excellence "Corail"
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Lecchini
authors: 1] USR 3278 CRIOBE CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, CRIOBE BP 1013 Moorea, 98729 Polynésie francaise [2] Laboratoire d'Excellence "Corail"
authors: Suzanne C
authors: SC
authors: Mills
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D047108:Embryonic Development; D049851:Gastropoda / Q000196:embryology*; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans; D009026:Mortality; D009622:Noise; D011114:Polynesia; D012767:Ships