Researchers Use Sounds to Call Fish Back to Dead Coral

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A team of scientists says that playing sounds underwater can get fish to return to areas with severely damaged coral reefs.

一组科学家说，在水下播放声音可以让鱼返回珊瑚礁严重受损的地区。

In an experiment, they found fish returned after hearing recordings of the sounds of a healthy ocean reef.

在一项实验中，他们发现鱼在听到一个健康的珊瑚礁的声音后返回。

The international team included scientists from the British universities of Exeter and Bristol, as well as Australia's James Cook University. The research results were reported in the publication Nature Communications. 

这个国际团队包括来自英国埃克塞特大学和布里斯托尔大学以及澳大利亚詹姆斯库克大学的科学家。研究结果发表在《自然通讯》杂志上。

The scientists placed underwater speakers in areas where coral had been dying in Australia's northern Great Barrier Reef. They played the sounds over a period of about a six weeks in 2017 and studied the results. The team reported that twice as many fish arrived in areas where the sounds of healthy coral were played.

科学家们在澳大利亚北部大堡礁珊瑚死亡的区域放置了水下扬声器。他们在2017年播放了大约六周的声音，并研究了结果。研究小组报告说，到了播放健康珊瑚声音的地区，鱼的数量增加了一倍。

The sounds also led to a 50 percent increase in the number of species present in the area, the researchers found. Among the arriving fish were species that feed on all major food sources. 

研究人员发现，这些声音还导致该地区现存物种数量增加了50%。在抵达的鱼类中，有以所有主要食物来源为食的鱼类。

The researchers noted the importance of having many different kinds of fish return to the area. Different species of fish perform many activities that support the ocean environment and sea life. "Damaged reefs have a higher chance of recovery if they have healthy fish populations," the scientists wrote in the report.

研究人员注意到让许多不同种类的鱼返回该地区的重要性。不同种类的鱼从事许多支持海洋环境和海洋生物的活动。”科学家在报告中写道：“如果珊瑚礁拥有健康的鱼类种群，受损的珊瑚礁有更高的恢复机会。”。

Steve Simpson is a professor at the University of Exeter who helped lead the research. He said in a statement that "healthy coral reefs are remarkably noisy places." They contain the sounds of many kinds of shrimp, fish and other sea creatures. Young fish listen for these sounds when they are looking for a place to settle, Simpson said.

史蒂夫辛普森是埃克塞特大学的一位教授，他帮助领导了这项研究。他在一份声明中说，“健康的珊瑚礁是非常嘈杂的地方”，它们含有多种虾、鱼和其他海洋生物的声音。辛普森说，小鱼在寻找落脚点时会听到这些声音。

He added that reefs "become ghostly quiet" when they suffer destruction that is usually related to human-caused pollution. Coral damage can cause unappealing smells and sounds that drive shrimp and fish away. But the experiment suggested that the use of underwater loudspeakers was an effective way to get young fish to come back.

他补充说，当珊瑚礁遭受通常与人类造成的污染有关的破坏时，它们会“变得幽灵般的安静”。珊瑚的破坏会引起令人讨厌的气味和声音，把虾和鱼赶走。但实验表明，使用水下扩音器是让幼鱼复活的有效方法。

Mark Meekan is a fish biologist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science. He said in a statement that the return of these fish is the first step to seeing major improvements in reef health. "Recovery is underpinned by fish that clean the reef and create space for corals to regrow," he said.

马克·米肯是澳大利亚海洋科学研究所的鱼类生物学家。他在一份声明中说，这些鱼的回归是看到珊瑚礁健康状况有重大改善的第一步。”复苏的基础是鱼类清理珊瑚礁，为珊瑚礁再生创造空间。”。

Tim Gordon was another member of the research team from the University of Exeter. He says he believes sound can be used to bring back dead coral in areas suffering major destruction in oceans across the world. 

蒂姆·戈登是埃克塞特大学研究小组的另一名成员。他说，他相信声音可以用来把全世界海洋遭受重大破坏地区的死珊瑚带回来。

"Boosting fish populations in this way could help to kick-start natural recovery processes, counteracting the damage we're seeing on many coral reefs around the world," Gordon said.

戈登说：“以这种方式增加鱼类数量有助于启动自然恢复进程，抵消我们在世界各地许多珊瑚礁上看到的破坏。”。 

University of Bristol professor Andy Radford said the underwater sounds are a promising way to fight coral reef damage at the local community level. But he noted that other threats need to be reduced as well. These include climate change, pollution and overfishing.

布里斯托尔大学教授安迪·雷德福德说，水下声音是在当地社区一级对抗珊瑚礁破坏的一种有希望的方法。但他指出，其他威胁也需要减少。其中包括气候变化、污染和过度捕捞。 

Gordon added, "From local management innovations to international political action, we need meaningful progress at all levels to paint a better future for reefs worldwide.

"戈登还说，“从地方管理创新到国际政治行动，我们需要在各个层面取得有意义的进展，为全球珊瑚礁描绘一个更美好的未来。”