title: Variation in habitat soundscape characteristics influences settlement of a reef-building coral.
abstract: Coral populations, and the productive reef ecosystems they support, rely on successful recruitment of reef-building species, beginning with settlement of dispersing larvae into habitat favourable to survival. Many substrate cues have been identified as contributors to coral larval habitat selection; however, the potential for ambient acoustic cues to influence coral settlement responses is unknown. Usingin situsettlement chambers that excluded other habitat cues, larval settlement of a dominant Caribbean reef-building coral,Orbicella faveolata, was compared in response to three local soundscapes, with differing acoustic and habitat properties. Differences between reef sites in the number of larvae settled in chambers isolating acoustic cues corresponded to differences in sound levels and reef characteristics, with sounds at the loudest reef generating significantly higher settlement during trials compared to the quietest site (a 29.5 % increase). These results suggest that soundscapes could be an important influence on coral settlement patterns and that acoustic cues associated with reef habitat may be related to larval settlement. This study reports an effect of soundscape variation on larval settlement for a key coral species, and adds to the growing evidence that soundscapes affect marine ecosystems by influencing early life history processes of foundational species.
authors.affiliation: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution , Woods Hole , MA , United States.
authors.forename: Ashlee
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lillis
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University , Raleigh , NC , United States.
authors.forename: DelWayne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bohnenstiehl
authors.affiliation: Artificial Reef Program, North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries , Morehead City , NC , United States of America.
authors.forename: Jason W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University , Raleigh , NC , United States.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eggleston
keywords: Coral; Habitat cue; Habitat selection; Larval settlement; Reef soundscape