Noise matters, or does it? How can we truly assess impacts without a common standard
Higgs, D.M.; Miller, R.M.; Koop, R.H. (2026). Noise matters, or does it? How can we truly assess impacts without a common standard, in: Popper, A.N. et al. The effects of noise on aquatic life IV. pp. 1-9. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-94229-7_63-1
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| Author keywords |
Meta-analysis · Anthropogenic noise · Effect size · Fish |
| Authors | | Top |
- Higgs, D.M.
- Miller, R.M.
- Koop, R.H.
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| Abstract |
Due to increasing concern about the effects of anthropogenic noise in aquatic habitats, there has been an explosion of research papers in recent years documenting possible effects on a large range of freshwater and marine species. While this increase in assessment can be seen as beneficial to our understanding of this possible stressor and potential regulatory implications, it is difficult to properly assess the importance of underwater anthropogenic noise due to the lack of open access to data, and due to ongoing geographic biases. To obtain truly objective measures of the importance of noise as a stressor, it is necessary to calculate some measure of noise effects consistently across studies, or at least provide sufficient data for others to calculate this metric. Here the authors quantify the percentage of papers that allow independent quantification of noise effects and find only 25% of published papers contain enough data for independent assessment of effects. The authors therefore call for increased adherence to open data policies and also call for increased geographic representation to better understand whether and how noise might be an important stressor to fish. Before a clear regulatory framework can be developed, it is incumbent on our community to decide how “effects” should be measured and to fully embrace data transparency to allow assessments of the true impacts of noise on aquatic ecosystems. |
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