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Chronic broadband noise increases the fitness of a laboratory-raised freshwater zooplankton

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bioRxiv
DOI
10.1101/2022.11.19.517212

Although there is an increasing interest in the effects of anthropogenic noise on underwater wildlife, most studies focus on marine mammals and fishes while many other taxa of substantial ecological importance are still overlooked. This is the case for zooplankton species which ensure the coupling between primary producers and fishes in pelagic food webs. Here, we measured lifespan, reproduction, and mobility of laboratory-raised water fleas Daphnia magna , a widespread freshwater zooplankton species, in response to continuous broadband noise. Surprisingly, we found a significant increase in survival and fecundity, leading to a higher individual fitness when considering total offspring production and a slight increase in the population growth rate according to the Euler-Lotka equation. Exposed water fleas were found to be slower than control individuals, and we discussed potential links between mobility and fitness. Our results can have implications in aquaculture and for in-lab studies (e.g., in ecotoxicology) where the acoustic environment receives little attention. Chronic broadband noise can be associated with certain human activities, but the consequences for natural Daphnia populations might differ as reduced velocity could have negative outcomes when considering competition and predation. Our work is one of the few showing an effect of noise on individual fitness and suggests that noise should be better accounted for in laboratory studies.

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