The status of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) in the UK
Abstract Estimates of population size and trends are essential for effective conservation and management of wildlife populations. For harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina ), these data are required to fulfil statutory reporting obligations under national and international regulations. Aerial survey counts...
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crwiley:10.1002/aqc.3110 2024-09-09T19:43:52+00:00 The status of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) in the UK Thompson, Dave Duck, Callan D. Morris, Chris D. Russell, Debbie J. F. Natural Environment Research Council Scottish Natural Heritage 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3110 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Faqc.3110 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aqc.3110 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/aqc.3110 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems volume 29, issue S1, page 40-60 ISSN 1052-7613 1099-0755 journal-article 2019 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3110 2024-06-18T04:13:10Z Abstract Estimates of population size and trends are essential for effective conservation and management of wildlife populations. For harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina ), these data are required to fulfil statutory reporting obligations under national and international regulations. Aerial survey counts of harbour seals hauled out during their annual moult were used to estimate population sizes and trends at UK, regional (seal management unit, SMU) and local (Special Area of Conservation, SAC) scales. Results indicate that the current UK harbour seal population is similar to estimates from the late 1990s, but there were significant declines in some subpopulations and increases in others. Fitted trends suggest that the UK harbour seal population can be divided into three geographically coherent groups: South‐east populations (South‐East and North‐East England SMUs) have shown continuous increases punctuated by phocine distemper virus epidemics in 1988 and 2002; north‐east populations (East Scotland, Moray Firth, North Coast and Orkney, and Shetland SMUs) have declined since the late 1990s; north‐west populations (West Scotland, Western Isles, and South‐West Scotland SMUs) have remained stable or increased. Similar geographical population substructure is evident in recent population genetics results. Trends within SACs generally match SMU trends since 2002. Of the nine SACs designated for harbour seals, four declined (in East Scotland, Moray Firth, and North Coast and Orkney SMUs), four remained stable (in Shetland and West Scotland SMUs), and one increased (in South‐East England SMU). Large changes in relative abundance have resulted from differences in regional trends. For example, in 1996–1997 the West Scotland and North Coast and Orkney SMUs each held ~27% of the Great Britain population but now hold ~50% and ~4% respectively; in 1980, the South‐East England SMU population was ~50% that of the Wadden Sea population, but by 2016 it was equivalent to <20% of the Wadden Sea count. Article in Journal/Newspaper harbour seal Phoca vitulina Wiley Online Library Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 29 S1 40 60 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Abstract Estimates of population size and trends are essential for effective conservation and management of wildlife populations. For harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina ), these data are required to fulfil statutory reporting obligations under national and international regulations. Aerial survey counts of harbour seals hauled out during their annual moult were used to estimate population sizes and trends at UK, regional (seal management unit, SMU) and local (Special Area of Conservation, SAC) scales. Results indicate that the current UK harbour seal population is similar to estimates from the late 1990s, but there were significant declines in some subpopulations and increases in others. Fitted trends suggest that the UK harbour seal population can be divided into three geographically coherent groups: South‐east populations (South‐East and North‐East England SMUs) have shown continuous increases punctuated by phocine distemper virus epidemics in 1988 and 2002; north‐east populations (East Scotland, Moray Firth, North Coast and Orkney, and Shetland SMUs) have declined since the late 1990s; north‐west populations (West Scotland, Western Isles, and South‐West Scotland SMUs) have remained stable or increased. Similar geographical population substructure is evident in recent population genetics results. Trends within SACs generally match SMU trends since 2002. Of the nine SACs designated for harbour seals, four declined (in East Scotland, Moray Firth, and North Coast and Orkney SMUs), four remained stable (in Shetland and West Scotland SMUs), and one increased (in South‐East England SMU). Large changes in relative abundance have resulted from differences in regional trends. For example, in 1996–1997 the West Scotland and North Coast and Orkney SMUs each held ~27% of the Great Britain population but now hold ~50% and ~4% respectively; in 1980, the South‐East England SMU population was ~50% that of the Wadden Sea population, but by 2016 it was equivalent to <20% of the Wadden Sea count. |
author2 |
Natural Environment Research Council Scottish Natural Heritage |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thompson, Dave Duck, Callan D. Morris, Chris D. Russell, Debbie J. F. |
spellingShingle |
Thompson, Dave Duck, Callan D. Morris, Chris D. Russell, Debbie J. F. The status of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) in the UK |
author_facet |
Thompson, Dave Duck, Callan D. Morris, Chris D. Russell, Debbie J. F. |
author_sort |
Thompson, Dave |
title |
The status of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) in the UK |
title_short |
The status of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) in the UK |
title_full |
The status of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) in the UK |
title_fullStr |
The status of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) in the UK |
title_full_unstemmed |
The status of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina) in the UK |
title_sort |
status of harbour seals ( phoca vitulina) in the uk |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3110 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Faqc.3110 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aqc.3110 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/aqc.3110 |
genre |
harbour seal Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
harbour seal Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems volume 29, issue S1, page 40-60 ISSN 1052-7613 1099-0755 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3110 |
container_title |
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
S1 |
container_start_page |
40 |
op_container_end_page |
60 |
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1809913546719363072 |