Demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability
To assess whether demographic declines of Arctic species at the southern limit of their range will be gradual or punctuated, we compared large-scale environmental patterns including sea ice dynamics to ringed seal ( Pusa hispida ) reproduction, body condition, recruitment, and stress in Hudson Bay f...
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crpeerj:10.7717/peerj.2957 2024-09-15T17:52:42+00:00 Demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability Ferguson, Steven H. Young, Brent G. Yurkowski, David J. Anderson, Randi Willing, Cornelia Nielsen, Ole Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Federal Program Office of International Polar Year Nunavut Wildlife Management Board ArcticNet Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2957 https://peerj.com/articles/2957.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/2957.xml https://peerj.com/articles/2957.html en eng PeerJ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PeerJ volume 5, page e2957 ISSN 2167-8359 journal-article 2017 crpeerj https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2957 2024-08-13T04:10:08Z To assess whether demographic declines of Arctic species at the southern limit of their range will be gradual or punctuated, we compared large-scale environmental patterns including sea ice dynamics to ringed seal ( Pusa hispida ) reproduction, body condition, recruitment, and stress in Hudson Bay from 2003 to 2013. Aerial surveys suggested a gradual decline in seal density from 1995 to 2013, with the lowest density occurring in 2013. Body condition decreased and stress (cortisol) increased over time in relation to longer open water periods. The 2010 open water period in Hudson Bay coincided with extremes in large-scale atmospheric patterns (North Atlantic Oscillation, Arctic Oscillation, El Nino-Southern Oscillation) resulting in the earliest spring breakup and the latest ice formation on record. The warming event was coincident with high stress level, low ovulation rate, low pregnancy rate, few pups in the Inuit harvest, and observations of sick seals. Results provide evidence of changes in the condition of Arctic marine mammals in relation to climate mediated sea ice dynamics. We conclude that although negative demographic responses of Hudson Bay seals are occurring gradually with diminishing sea ice, a recent episodic environmental event played a significant role in a punctuated population decline. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic marine mammals Hudson Bay inuit North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Pusa hispida ringed seal Sea ice PeerJ Publishing PeerJ 5 e2957 |
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English |
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To assess whether demographic declines of Arctic species at the southern limit of their range will be gradual or punctuated, we compared large-scale environmental patterns including sea ice dynamics to ringed seal ( Pusa hispida ) reproduction, body condition, recruitment, and stress in Hudson Bay from 2003 to 2013. Aerial surveys suggested a gradual decline in seal density from 1995 to 2013, with the lowest density occurring in 2013. Body condition decreased and stress (cortisol) increased over time in relation to longer open water periods. The 2010 open water period in Hudson Bay coincided with extremes in large-scale atmospheric patterns (North Atlantic Oscillation, Arctic Oscillation, El Nino-Southern Oscillation) resulting in the earliest spring breakup and the latest ice formation on record. The warming event was coincident with high stress level, low ovulation rate, low pregnancy rate, few pups in the Inuit harvest, and observations of sick seals. Results provide evidence of changes in the condition of Arctic marine mammals in relation to climate mediated sea ice dynamics. We conclude that although negative demographic responses of Hudson Bay seals are occurring gradually with diminishing sea ice, a recent episodic environmental event played a significant role in a punctuated population decline. |
author2 |
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Federal Program Office of International Polar Year Nunavut Wildlife Management Board ArcticNet Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ferguson, Steven H. Young, Brent G. Yurkowski, David J. Anderson, Randi Willing, Cornelia Nielsen, Ole |
spellingShingle |
Ferguson, Steven H. Young, Brent G. Yurkowski, David J. Anderson, Randi Willing, Cornelia Nielsen, Ole Demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability |
author_facet |
Ferguson, Steven H. Young, Brent G. Yurkowski, David J. Anderson, Randi Willing, Cornelia Nielsen, Ole |
author_sort |
Ferguson, Steven H. |
title |
Demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability |
title_short |
Demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability |
title_full |
Demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability |
title_fullStr |
Demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability |
title_sort |
demographic, ecological, and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability |
publisher |
PeerJ |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2957 https://peerj.com/articles/2957.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/2957.xml https://peerj.com/articles/2957.html |
genre |
Arctic marine mammals Hudson Bay inuit North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Pusa hispida ringed seal Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic marine mammals Hudson Bay inuit North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Pusa hispida ringed seal Sea ice |
op_source |
PeerJ volume 5, page e2957 ISSN 2167-8359 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2957 |
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PeerJ |
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5 |
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e2957 |
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1810294737386602496 |