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The effects of anthropogenic noise on cetaceans in Brazil: the need to consider recent scientific advances in environmental licensing

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Abstract

Anthropogenic noise can impact cetaceans, leading to masking, stress, and auditory damage, among other effects. Recent studies have emphasized the need to understand these impacts on marine organisms, for which cetaceans may be used as ecological models. However, it is unclear whether public policy-making in the countries that present the same concern. We used the Brazilian environmental licensing legislation as a case study to investigate whether governments have addressed the scientific advances on the effects of anthropogenic noise on cetaceans. The study was based on a systematic review of the literature on the impacts of anthropogenic noise on cetaceans, and a survey of the environmental licensing reports related to the construction of shipping facilities and seismic activity. None of these reports evaluated the potential impacts on cetacean acoustics, and 59.6% were based solely on a review of the literature. Our results highlight the importance of measuring the acoustic variables of the noise produced by human activities. We conclude that governments should include the recent scientific advances on the effects of anthropogenic noise on cetaceans in their environmental legislation and licensing requirements.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Robin Le Balle, Julia Guimarães and Alexandre Pires for their helpful revision of the manuscript. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. Brazilian National Science Council (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico—CNPq) and Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) provided research grants (PQ, proc. 306.579/2018-9 and CNE, proc. E-26/202.835/2018, respectively) to M.A.S.A.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Rodovia BR-465 Km 7, CEP 23890-000, Seropédica, RJ, Brasil

    Ana Luiza Mello Soares Pires

  2. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

    Israel de Sá Maciel, Maria Alice dos Santos Alves & Rodrigo Hipólito Tardin

  3. Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

    Rodrigo Hipólito Tardin

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  1. Ana Luiza Mello Soares Pires
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  2. Israel de Sá Maciel
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  3. Maria Alice dos Santos Alves
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Correspondence to Ana Luiza Mello Soares Pires.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 2 The list of search terms used in the systematic review
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Appendix 2

Table 3 Consequences according to the systematic review of the anthropogenic sound sources in cetaceans and the acoustic parameters used to evaluate its impacts
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Appendix 3

Table 4 List of the activities with EIA/EIR available on IBAMA’s website
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Pires, A.L.M.S., de Sá Maciel, I., dos Santos Alves, M.A. et al. The effects of anthropogenic noise on cetaceans in Brazil: the need to consider recent scientific advances in environmental licensing. J Coast Conserv 25, 45 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-021-00832-5

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