Developing marine mammal Dynamic Energy Budget models and their potential for integration into the iPCoD framework : Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science Vol 11 No 11

• Main Author: Marine Scotland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Marine Scotland Science 2020
• Subjects: Cetacean abundance; Cetacean behaviour; Cetacean morphology and physiology; Man-made structures; Construction and structures; Human activity; Harbour porpoise
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7489/12328-1; https://data.marine.gov.scot/dataset/developing-marine-mammal-dynamic-energy-budget-models-and-their-potential-integration-ipcod

Bioenergetic models have been used to infer changes in an individual’s energy stores with behavioural state or as a consequence of disturbance, and have been widely used to investigate potential impacts of disturbance on marine mammals at both individual and population level. Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory provides a mechanistic framework that predicts the consequences of an organism’s acquisition of environmental resources for energy demanding traits, such as growth and reproduction, via internal physiological functions. The equations in a DEB model describe the life history processes of a cohort of organisms, based on energy fluxes. Resources assimilated from the environment are allocated to maintenance, growth and reproduction via a reserve compartment. The overall objective of this project was to explore how DEB frameworks can be used to model the link between disturbance and population vital rates for five UK species of marine mammal to potentially improve marine mammal assessments for offshore renewable developments. : The report describes in detail the different parameters that are required by a DEB model, which of those are likely to be found in or derived from the literature and which are unknown and require subjective judgement. Based on an extensive literature search, we provide suggested parameter values for harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphins, minke whales, harbour seals and grey seals in the UK, noting in each case the literature that was used to derive the parameter and where they were estimated by subjective expert judgement. While recommended parameters were collated for each of the five species, a full DEB model was created for harbour porpoise only. Therefore, the focal species in this report is the harbour porpoise. The text details the results of the literature search for harbour porpoise and exactly how each parameter value was calculated or estimated. Similar detail is provided for bottlenose dolphins, minke whales, harbour seals and grey seals in Appendix 1-4.