Figure - available from: Frontiers in Marine Science
This content is subject to copyright.
Box plots of vulnerability matrix estimates for (A) area, (B) duration, and (C) occurrence frequency. The median is represented by a line, the mean is displayed as a black diamond and the value of the mean is given. The color of each threat is consistent throughout, and the order of the x-axis is based on the overall vulnerability score.
Source publication
Like many forage fish species, Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes personatus) play a key role in nearshore marine ecosystems as an important prey source for a diverse array of predators in the northeastern Pacific. However, the primary threats to Pacific sand lance and their habitat are poorly defined due to a lack of systematic data. Crucial informatio...
Citations
... Anthropogenic noise reflects one among many potential threats to PSL Huard et al., 2024). PSL spend considerable times in benthic sediments throughout this region concentrated in discrete habitats , often at extremely high densities Greene et al., 2020). ...
Anthropogenic noise is a pervasive environmental pollutant that continues to expand and increase globally, especially in marine environments, affecting many marine animals, especially fish. Although interest and concern regarding the effects of noise on fish has increased, most studies still focus on the effects noise has on individual species, often overlooking wider system-level consequences. This is particularly true of trophically important species such as forage fish. We investigated how different types of anthropogenic noise affect the quality of an important forage fish species, Pacific sand lance, Ammodytes personatus, which could impact the many species that rely on them. We found that, compared to controls, fish in noisy environments had lower energy density and lower weight at a given length. These results suggest that even over shorter periods of time the anthropogenic noise could reduce sand lance quality, which in-turn could cascade up the food chain causing drastic ecosystem-level consequences.
