Acoustic ecology of corall reefs

Every place on Earth has its own landscape, including the sounds it produces. Biophony includes the sounds produced by animals. Studying this biophony makes it possible to study, in a non-invasive way, which species or groups of species are present, in what quantities and what behaviours are involved (e.g. reproduction, feeding, etc.). The aim of this study is to characterise the diversity of the biophony of coral reefs (known as photic reefs) and their deeper counterparts (known as mesophotic reefs) in the current context of anthropogenic pressures, the Anthropocene. The biophony of coral reefs mainly comprises the sounds emitted by fish and benthic invertebrates. It can be studied at the individual level (for fish) and at the level of mass biophony, a bit like when you hear the mass of people talking in an auditorium or restaurant without hearing the individual words (for fish and invertebrates). In this work, we are studying how mass biophony propagates offshore and how it varies spatially and temporally. We are also interested in the methods that can be used to study it, human impacts and the identification of the different sounds recorded.