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Tim Gordon

PhD Student

Hatherly B11

Hatherly Building, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4PS, UK

Overview

I am a marine biologist studying human impacts on natural acoustics in the ocean. Sound travels far and fast underwater, and many marine organisms communicate, navigate, and sense their environment by listening. Today, the natural sounds of marine ecosystems are being altered by climate change and drowned out by human noise pollution; my research aims to understand more about the likely impacts of these changes and what we can do about them. My work focuses mainly on coral reef ecosystems, combining fieldwork with laboratory experiments and computational analysis of sound recordings.

"Climate Change: Tales from the front line" - click here to watch my recent presentation at the 2018 World Ocean Summit, in Cancun, Mexico

"Helping Nemo find home" - click here to watch my Three Minute Thesis, explaining my research on coral reef soundscapes in a warming world

ResearchGate profile

Google scholar profile

Broad research specialisms

Marine biology
Bioacoustics
Climate change

Qualifications

BA Natural Sciences (Zoology) – University of Cambridge, 2012–2015
MRes Ecology, Evolution & Conservation – Imperial College London, 2015–2016

Research

Research projects

Project Title: Assessing and managing anthropogenic impacts on marine acoustic ecology

Supervisors:

Dr Steve Simpson, University of Exeter
Dr Rod Wilson, University of Exeter
Professor Andy Radford, University of Bristol
Dr Nathan Merchant, Cefas
Dr Mark Meekan, Australian Institute of Marine Science

Funding Body:
NERC GW4+ DTP, with additional funding from the Australian Institute of Marine Science

Project Description:
Sound can travel for thousands of miles underwater, and plays a vital role in many marine ecosystems. Fish use sound to communicate, navigate, defend territories, find food, choose a mate and gain information about their surrounding environment. Recently, anthropogenic climate change has dramatically altered the soundscape of marine ecosystems, and noise pollution from shipping, small boats, construction and industry threatens to drown out the natural sounds of the ocean. This jeopardises marine life all over the world. My research addresses the likely impact of these acoustic changes, and how best to manage them.

Publications

2019

Acoustic enrichment can enhance fish community development on degraded coral reef habitat

TAC Gordon, AN Radford, IK Davidson, K Barnes, K McCloskey, SL Nedelec, MG Meekan, MI McCormick, SD Simpson

Nature Communications 10, 5414.

A simple model predicts how warming simplifies food webs

EJ O’Gorman, OL Petchey, KJ Faulkner, B Gallo, TAC Gordon, J Neto-Cerejeira, JS Ólafsson, DE Pichler, MSA Thompson, G Woodward

Nature Climate Change 9, 611-616.

Coral reef monitoring, reef assessment technologies and ecosystem-based management

DO Obura, W Appeltans, N Amornthammarong, G Aeby, NJ Bax, J Bishop, RE Brainard, S Chan, P Fletcher, TAC Gordon, L Gramer, M Gudka, J Halas, J Hendee, G Hodgson, D Huang, M Jankulak, A Jones, T Kimura, J Levy, P Miloslavich, LM Chou, FE Muller-Karger, K Osuka, S Simpson, K Tun, S Wongbusarakum

Frontiers in Marine Science 6, 580

Causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in animal responses to anthropogenic noise

HR Harding, TAC Gordon, E Eastcott, SD Simpson, AN Radford

Behavioral Ecology, arz114

In a noisy world, some animals are more equal than others: a response to comments on Harding et al.

AN Radford, HR Harding, TAC Gordon, SD Simpson

Behavioral Ecology, arz171

2018

Habitat degradation negatively affects auditory settlement behavior of coral reef fishes

TAC Gordon, HR Harding, KE Wong, ND Merchant, MG Meekan, MI McCormick, AN Radford, SD Simpson

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, 5193-5198.

Fishes in a changing world: learning from the past to promote sustainability of fish populations

TAC Gordon, HR Harding, FK Clever, IK Davidson, W Davison, DW Montgomery, RC Weatherhead, FM Windsor, JD Armstrong, A Bardonnet, E Bergman, JR Britton, IM Côté, D D'Agostino, LA Greenberg, AR Harborne, KK Kahilainen, NB Metcalfe, SC Mills, NJ Milner, FH Mittermayer, L Montorio, SL Nedelec, JM Prokkola, LA Rutterford, AGV Salvanes, SD Simpson, A Vainikka, JK Pinnegar, EM Santos

Journal of Fish Biology 92, 804-827.

Changes in feeding selectivity of freshwater invertebrates across a natural thermal gradient

TAC Gordon, J Neto-Cerejeira, PC Furey, EJ O’Gorman

Current Zoology 64, 231-242.

Fish in habitats with higher motorboat disturbance show reduced sensitivity to motorboat noise

HR Harding, TAC Gordon, RE Hsuan, ACE Mackaness, AN Radford, SD Simpson

Biology Letters 14, 20180441.

2016

Predation of freshwater gastropods (Viviparus viviparus) by brown rats (Rattus norvegicus)

TAC Gordon, EL Wilding, DC Aldridge

Journal of Molluscan Studies 82, 457-463.

2015

Defended territories of an aggressive damselfish contain lower juvenile coral density than adjacent non-defended areas on Kenyan lagoon patch reefs

TAC Gordon, B Cowburn, RD Sluka

Coral Reefs 34, 13-16.

Publications

Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year

Publications by category

Journal articles

Gordon T, Simpson S, McCloskey K, Nedelec S (In Press). Acoustic enrichment can enhance fish community development on degraded coral-reef habitat. Nature Communications Full text.

Gordon TAC, Radford AN, Simpson SD, Meekan MG (2020). Marine restoration projects are undervalued. Science, 367(6478), 635-636. Author URL. Full text.

O’Gorman EJ, Petchey OL, Faulkner KJ, Gallo B, Gordon TAC, Neto-Cerejeira J, Ólafsson JS, Pichler DE, Thompson MSA, Woodward G, et al (2019). A simple model predicts how warming simplifies wild food webs. Nature Climate Change, 9(8), 611-616.

Harding HR, Gordon TAC, Eastcott E, Simpson SD, Radford AN (2019). Causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in animal responses to anthropogenic noise. Behavioral Ecology, 30(6), 1501-1511. Abstract.

Obura DO, Aeby G, Amornthammarong N, Appeltans W, Bax N, Bishop J, Brainard RE, Chan S, Fletcher P, Gordon TAC, et al (2019). Coral reef monitoring, reef assessment technologies, and ecosystem-based management. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6(SEP).

Coral reefs are exceptionally biodiverse and human dependence on their ecosystem services is high. Reefs experience significant direct and indirect anthropogenic pressures, and provide a sensitive indicator of coastal ocean health, climate change, and ocean acidification, with associated implications for society. Monitoring coral reef status and trends is essential to better inform science, management and policy, but the projected collapse of reef systems within a few decades makes the provision of accurate and actionable monitoring data urgent. The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network has been the foundation for global reporting on coral reefs for two decades, and is entering into a new phase with improved operational and data standards incorporating the Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) (www.goosocean.org/eov) and Framework for Ocean Observing developed by the Global Ocean Observing System. Three EOVs provide a robust description of reef health: hard coral cover and composition, macro-algal canopy cover, and fish diversity and abundance. A data quality model based on comprehensive metadata has been designed to facilitate maximum global coverage of coral reef data, and tangible steps to track capacity building. Improved monitoring of events such as mass bleaching and disease outbreaks, citizen science, and socio-economic monitoring have the potential to greatly improve the relevance of monitoring to managers and stakeholders, and to address the complex and multi-dimensional interactions between reefs and people. A new generation of autonomous vehicles (underwater, surface, and aerial) and satellites are set to revolutionize and vastly expand our understanding of coral reefs. Promising approaches include Structure from Motion image processing, and acoustic techniques. Across all systems, curation of data in linked and open online databases, with an open data culture to maximize benefits from data integration, and empowering users to take action, are priorities. Action in the next decade will be essential to mitigate the impacts on coral reefs from warming temperatures, through local management and informing national and international obligations, particularly in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, climate action, and the role of coral reefs as a global indicator. Mobilizing data to help drive the needed behavior change is a top priority for coral reef observing systems.

Abstract.

Gordon TAC, Radford AN, Simpson SD (2019). Grieving environmental scientists need support. Science, 366(6462). Author URL.

Radford AN, Harding HR, Gordon TAC, Simpson SD (2019). In a noisy world, some animals are more equal than others: a response to comments on Harding et al. Behavioral Ecology, 30(6), 1516-1517.

Gordon TAC, Neto-Cerejeira J, Furey PC, O’Gorman EJ (2018). Changes in feeding selectivity of freshwater invertebrates across a natural thermal gradient. Current Zoology, 64(2), 231-242.

Harding HR, Gordon TAC, Hsuan RE, Mackaness ACE, Radford AN, Simpson SD (2018). Fish in habitats with higher motorboat disturbance show reduced sensitivity to motorboat noise. Biology Letters, 14(10). Abstract. Full text.

Gordon TAC, Harding HR, Clever FK, Davidson IK, Davison W, Montgomery DW, Weatherhead RC, Windsor FM, Armstrong JD, Bardonnet A, et al (2018). Fishes in a changing world: learning from the past to promote sustainability of fish populations. J Fish Biol, 92(3), 804-827. Abstract. Author URL. Full text.

Gordon TAC, Harding HR, Wong KE, Merchant ND, Meekan MG, McCormick MI, Radford AN, Simpson SD (2018). Habitat degradation negatively affects auditory settlement behavior of coral reef fishes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 115(20), 5193-5198. Abstract. Author URL. Full text.

Gordon TAC, Wilding EL, Aldridge DC (2016). Predation of freshwater gastropods (Viviparus viviparus) by brown rats (Rattus norvegicus). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 82(3), 457-463.

Gordon TAC, Cowburn B, Sluka RD (2014). Defended territories of an aggressive damselfish contain lower juvenile coral density than adjacent non-defended areas on Kenyan lagoon patch reefs. Coral Reefs, 34(1), 13-16.

Publications by year

In Press

Gordon T, Simpson S, McCloskey K, Nedelec S (In Press). Acoustic enrichment can enhance fish community development on degraded coral-reef habitat. Nature Communications Full text.

2020

Gordon TAC, Radford AN, Simpson SD, Meekan MG (2020). Marine restoration projects are undervalued. Science, 367(6478), 635-636. Author URL. Full text.

Gordon T (2020). The changing song of the sea: soundscapes as indicators and drivers of ecosystem transition on tropical coral reefs.

Tropical coral reefs are ecosystems of great beauty and value, but are
degrading at unprecedented rates. New approaches are required to monitor and manage reefs worldwide, and to motivate societal changes that reduce the threats facing these vulnerable ecosystems.

Healthy coral reefs are alive with sound, as a wide range of soniferous
organisms create vibrant soundscapes that reflect the composition of the local community. Many fishes and invertebrates develop as larvae away from reefs before using sound to detect and settle to suitable reef habitat as juveniles, replenishing local populations. In this thesis, I present four field studies that develop and demonstrate the value of bioacoustic approaches to understanding and mediating responses of coral reef ecosystems to degradation.

After an introduction to coral reef bioacoustics (Chapter One), I present data showing that soundscapes in the northern Great Barrier Reef have been significantly altered by degradation. Young fishes are less attracted to these post-degradation soundscapes than their pre-degradation equivalents (Chapter Two). Following this, I show that reef recovery can also be measured using acoustic recordings. Previously-damaged reefs restored by rubble stabilisation and coral gardening sound quantifiably similar to nearby healthy reefs and different from nearby degraded reefs (Chapter Three). I then present evidence that loudspeaker playback of healthy reef sound can enhance restoration efforts by increasing fish settlement and retention; fish community development is accelerated by acoustic enrichment of coral-rubble patch reefs compared with unmanipulated controls (Chapter Four). Furthermore, I show that the response of individual species to acoustic enrichment differs in relation to other restoration conditions (Chapter Five). Finally, I discuss the implications of these data for reef monitoring and management, and the use of bioacoustics to inspire public engagement with reef conservation (Chapter Six).

In conclusion, bioacoustics offers novel methods to monitor and manage coral reefs, and can motivate people to adopt environmentally-friendly lifestyles. In a world where reefs are changing at unprecedented rates, much can be achieved by learning to listen.

Abstract. Full text.

2019

Gordon T, Simpson S, McCloskey K, Nedelec S (2019). Acoustic enrichment can enhance fish community development on degraded coral reef habitat (dataset). Abstract. Full text.

Abstract.

Gordon TAC, Radford AN, Simpson SD (2019). Grieving environmental scientists need support. Science, 366(6462). Author URL.

Radford AN, Harding HR, Gordon TAC, Simpson SD (2019). In a noisy world, some animals are more equal than others: a response to comments on Harding et al. Behavioral Ecology, 30(6), 1516-1517.

2018

Gordon TAC, Neto-Cerejeira J, Furey PC, O’Gorman EJ (2018). Changes in feeding selectivity of freshwater invertebrates across a natural thermal gradient. Current Zoology, 64(2), 231-242.

2016

Gordon TAC, Wilding EL, Aldridge DC (2016). Predation of freshwater gastropods (Viviparus viviparus) by brown rats (Rattus norvegicus). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 82(3), 457-463.

Tim Gordon

PhD Student

Overview

Broad research specialisms

Qualifications

Research

Research projects

Publications

Publications

Publications by category

Journal articles

Abstract:
Causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in animal responses to anthropogenic noise

Abstract:
Coral reef monitoring, reef assessment technologies, and ecosystem-based management

Abstract:
Fish in habitats with higher motorboat disturbance show reduced sensitivity to motorboat noise

Abstract:
Fishes in a changing world: learning from the past to promote sustainability of fish populations.

Abstract:
Habitat degradation negatively affects auditory settlement behavior of coral reef fishes.

Publications by year

In Press

2020

Abstract:
The changing song of the sea: soundscapes as indicators and drivers of ecosystem transition on tropical coral reefs

2019

Abstract:
Acoustic enrichment can enhance fish community development on degraded coral reef habitat (dataset)

Abstract:
Causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in animal responses to anthropogenic noise

Abstract:
Coral reef monitoring, reef assessment technologies, and ecosystem-based management

2018

Abstract:
Fish in habitats with higher motorboat disturbance show reduced sensitivity to motorboat noise

Abstract:
Fishes in a changing world: learning from the past to promote sustainability of fish populations.

Abstract:
Habitat degradation negatively affects auditory settlement behavior of coral reef fishes.

2016

2014

Teaching

Supervision / Group

Profile

Tim Gordon

PhD Student

Overview

Broad research specialisms

Qualifications

Research

Research projects

Publications

Publications

Publications by category

Journal articles

Abstract:Causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in animal responses to anthropogenic noise

Abstract:Coral reef monitoring, reef assessment technologies, and ecosystem-based management

Abstract:Fish in habitats with higher motorboat disturbance show reduced sensitivity to motorboat noise

Abstract:Fishes in a changing world: learning from the past to promote sustainability of fish populations.

Abstract:Habitat degradation negatively affects auditory settlement behavior of coral reef fishes.

Publications by year

In Press

2020

Abstract:The changing song of the sea: soundscapes as indicators and drivers of ecosystem transition on tropical coral reefs

2019

Abstract:Acoustic enrichment can enhance fish community development on degraded coral reef habitat (dataset)

Abstract:Causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in animal responses to anthropogenic noise

Abstract:Coral reef monitoring, reef assessment technologies, and ecosystem-based management

2018

Abstract:Fish in habitats with higher motorboat disturbance show reduced sensitivity to motorboat noise

Abstract:Fishes in a changing world: learning from the past to promote sustainability of fish populations.

Abstract:Habitat degradation negatively affects auditory settlement behavior of coral reef fishes.

2016

2014

Teaching

Supervision / Group

Abstract:
Causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in animal responses to anthropogenic noise

Abstract:
Coral reef monitoring, reef assessment technologies, and ecosystem-based management

Abstract:
Fish in habitats with higher motorboat disturbance show reduced sensitivity to motorboat noise

Abstract:
Fishes in a changing world: learning from the past to promote sustainability of fish populations.

Abstract:
Habitat degradation negatively affects auditory settlement behavior of coral reef fishes.

Abstract:
The changing song of the sea: soundscapes as indicators and drivers of ecosystem transition on tropical coral reefs

Abstract:
Acoustic enrichment can enhance fish community development on degraded coral reef habitat (dataset)

Abstract:
Causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in animal responses to anthropogenic noise

Abstract:
Coral reef monitoring, reef assessment technologies, and ecosystem-based management

Abstract:
Fish in habitats with higher motorboat disturbance show reduced sensitivity to motorboat noise

Abstract:
Fishes in a changing world: learning from the past to promote sustainability of fish populations.

Abstract:
Habitat degradation negatively affects auditory settlement behavior of coral reef fishes.