The ecoacoustics of a kelp forest: Measurement and prediction (Ecklonia radiata) Free

Despite of over a century of intensive research on kelp (brown macroalgae of the order Laminariales), very few acoustic studies have been undertaken and much remains unknown about their species-specific acoustic properties, which are nevertheless essential for surveying and managing the respective habitats. In this paper, we discuss results of an in-situ, acoustic and ecological investigation of species Ecklonia radiata which forms dense aggregations at Canoe bay, Tasmania (FORTES 12). The experiment measured extensively the time‐varying Green’s function (0.2–20 kHz) between pairs of distant source and receivers together with physical and biogeochemical variables of the ecosystem. Propagation and scattering features are interpreted in the light of other results obtained by the authors including ray-based estimation of the channel impulse response envelope, finite‐element scattering model of a whole E. radiata thallus, and a study of production from diel oxygen modelling, oxygen exchange, and electron transport rate in the kelp. Comparison will be made with similar experiments carried out in Mediterranean seagrass meadows [Handbook of Scaling Methods in Aquatic Ecology: Measurement, Analysis, Simulation, CRC Press, 2003]. [Work supported by ONR.]