Adding insult to injury: anthropogenic noise intensifies predation risk by an invasive freshwater fish species

The ecological impact of invasive species is likely to be modulated by human-induced alterations in habitats, which represents another driver biodiversity loss. We tested the effect soundscape degradation on predation round goby Neogobius melanostomus, one Europe’s “worst species”. For this, we compared relationship between per capita rate and prey density (i.e., functional response) presence or absence motorboat sounds. Unexpectedly, fish displayed a stronger response with additional noise, could explained higher mobility promoting encounters prey. Our results suggest that anthropogenic noise exacerbate species.