The Arctic and the future Arctic? Soundscapes and marine mammal communities on the east and west sides of Svalbard characterized through acoustic data
The Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, is warming rapidly, resulting in environmental change that is likely already affecting the underwater soundscape, a critical habitat feature for marine mammals. Baseline information about current sound levels is needed to monitor future changes. Fixed-location recor...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1208049 https://doaj.org/article/d8a3a8a56c2143fdadc68c700e1b6b64 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d8a3a8a56c2143fdadc68c700e1b6b64 2023-11-12T04:10:30+01:00 The Arctic and the future Arctic? Soundscapes and marine mammal communities on the east and west sides of Svalbard characterized through acoustic data Samuel M. Llobet Heidi Ahonen Christian Lydersen Kit M. Kovacs 2023-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1208049 https://doaj.org/article/d8a3a8a56c2143fdadc68c700e1b6b64 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1208049/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1208049 https://doaj.org/article/d8a3a8a56c2143fdadc68c700e1b6b64 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 10 (2023) antropophonies arctic endemic species atlantic arctic biophonies borealization geophonies Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1208049 2023-10-29T00:37:59Z The Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, is warming rapidly, resulting in environmental change that is likely already affecting the underwater soundscape, a critical habitat feature for marine mammals. Baseline information about current sound levels is needed to monitor future changes. Fixed-location recorders were used in this study to characterize the soundscape and study the occurrence and phenology of marine mammals at two locations within Svalbard. Kongsfjorden (2017-2018), on the west coast, has already undergone vast environmental change, whereas M2 (2019-2020), on the east coast, remains more Arctic. The results of the study reveal that the soundscapes and species assemblages differed markedly west vs east. In the west, Arctic species were detected from winter to summer and migrant marine mammal species were detected occasionally through the autumn. In the east, Arctic species were detected constantly on an almost year-round basis, and a few migrant species were detected during summer. Vessels were detected more often in the west than in the east, in accordance with AIS traffic data that indicated more boat traffic in Kongsfjorden in the west than in the east of the archipelago. In terms of soundscapes, geophonies (wind, ice) were the main factors determining the sound energy at both locations. Kongsfjorden’s soundscape was characterized by glacier-melt sounds with moderate levels of anthropogenic noise and some biophonies (marine mammals). At M2, sea-ice noises shaped the soundscape, which was otherwise dominated by biophonies from Arctic marine mammals. At the east coast site there was little impact from anthropophonies (vessels). This study provides information on Svalbard’s current underwater soundscape, which is likely to be transformed in the future due to ongoing climate change, with the west coast reflecting future conditions in many Arctic regions if ship-traffic is not regulated. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic marine mammals Arctic Atlantic Arctic Atlantic-Arctic Climate change glacier glacier Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden Sea ice Svalbard Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Marine Science 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
antropophonies arctic endemic species atlantic arctic biophonies borealization geophonies Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
antropophonies arctic endemic species atlantic arctic biophonies borealization geophonies Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Samuel M. Llobet Heidi Ahonen Christian Lydersen Kit M. Kovacs The Arctic and the future Arctic? Soundscapes and marine mammal communities on the east and west sides of Svalbard characterized through acoustic data |
topic_facet |
antropophonies arctic endemic species atlantic arctic biophonies borealization geophonies Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
The Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, is warming rapidly, resulting in environmental change that is likely already affecting the underwater soundscape, a critical habitat feature for marine mammals. Baseline information about current sound levels is needed to monitor future changes. Fixed-location recorders were used in this study to characterize the soundscape and study the occurrence and phenology of marine mammals at two locations within Svalbard. Kongsfjorden (2017-2018), on the west coast, has already undergone vast environmental change, whereas M2 (2019-2020), on the east coast, remains more Arctic. The results of the study reveal that the soundscapes and species assemblages differed markedly west vs east. In the west, Arctic species were detected from winter to summer and migrant marine mammal species were detected occasionally through the autumn. In the east, Arctic species were detected constantly on an almost year-round basis, and a few migrant species were detected during summer. Vessels were detected more often in the west than in the east, in accordance with AIS traffic data that indicated more boat traffic in Kongsfjorden in the west than in the east of the archipelago. In terms of soundscapes, geophonies (wind, ice) were the main factors determining the sound energy at both locations. Kongsfjorden’s soundscape was characterized by glacier-melt sounds with moderate levels of anthropogenic noise and some biophonies (marine mammals). At M2, sea-ice noises shaped the soundscape, which was otherwise dominated by biophonies from Arctic marine mammals. At the east coast site there was little impact from anthropophonies (vessels). This study provides information on Svalbard’s current underwater soundscape, which is likely to be transformed in the future due to ongoing climate change, with the west coast reflecting future conditions in many Arctic regions if ship-traffic is not regulated. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Samuel M. Llobet Heidi Ahonen Christian Lydersen Kit M. Kovacs |
author_facet |
Samuel M. Llobet Heidi Ahonen Christian Lydersen Kit M. Kovacs |
author_sort |
Samuel M. Llobet |
title |
The Arctic and the future Arctic? Soundscapes and marine mammal communities on the east and west sides of Svalbard characterized through acoustic data |
title_short |
The Arctic and the future Arctic? Soundscapes and marine mammal communities on the east and west sides of Svalbard characterized through acoustic data |
title_full |
The Arctic and the future Arctic? Soundscapes and marine mammal communities on the east and west sides of Svalbard characterized through acoustic data |
title_fullStr |
The Arctic and the future Arctic? Soundscapes and marine mammal communities on the east and west sides of Svalbard characterized through acoustic data |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Arctic and the future Arctic? Soundscapes and marine mammal communities on the east and west sides of Svalbard characterized through acoustic data |
title_sort |
arctic and the future arctic? soundscapes and marine mammal communities on the east and west sides of svalbard characterized through acoustic data |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1208049 https://doaj.org/article/d8a3a8a56c2143fdadc68c700e1b6b64 |
genre |
Arctic marine mammals Arctic Atlantic Arctic Atlantic-Arctic Climate change glacier glacier Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden Sea ice Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic marine mammals Arctic Atlantic Arctic Atlantic-Arctic Climate change glacier glacier Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden Sea ice Svalbard |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 10 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1208049/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1208049 https://doaj.org/article/d8a3a8a56c2143fdadc68c700e1b6b64 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1208049 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
10 |
_version_ |
1782329930690854912 |