Marine mammal strandings and environmental changes: a 15-year study in the St. Lawrence ecosystem.
Understanding the effects of climatic variability on marine mammals is challenging due to the complexity of ecological interactions. We used general linear models to analyze a 15-year database documenting marine mammal strandings (1994-2008; n = 1,193) and nine environmental parameters known to affe...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0a91912c46ae4a8db8b1b1e05a7b1e26 2023-05-15T15:36:10+02:00 Marine mammal strandings and environmental changes: a 15-year study in the St. Lawrence ecosystem. Marie-Hélène Truchon Lena Measures Vincent L'Hérault Jean-Claude Brêthes Peter S Galbraith Michel Harvey Sylvie Lessard Michel Starr Nicolas Lecomte 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059311 https://doaj.org/article/0a91912c46ae4a8db8b1b1e05a7b1e26 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3609766?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059311 https://doaj.org/article/0a91912c46ae4a8db8b1b1e05a7b1e26 PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 3, p e59311 (2013) Medicine R Science Q article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059311 2022-12-31T02:14:17Z Understanding the effects of climatic variability on marine mammals is challenging due to the complexity of ecological interactions. We used general linear models to analyze a 15-year database documenting marine mammal strandings (1994-2008; n = 1,193) and nine environmental parameters known to affect marine mammal survival, from regional (sea ice) to continental scales (North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO). Stranding events were more frequent during summer and fall than other seasons, and have increased since 1994. Poor ice conditions observed during the same period may have affected marine mammals either directly, by modulating the availability of habitat for feeding and breeding activities, or indirectly, through changes in water conditions and marine productivity (krill abundance). For most species (75%, n = 6 species), a low volume of ice was correlated with increasing frequency of stranding events (e.g. R(2)adj = 0.59, hooded seal, Cystophora cristata). This likely led to an increase in seal mortality during the breeding period, but also to increase habitat availability for seasonal migratory cetaceans using ice-free areas during winter. We also detected a high frequency of stranding events for mysticete species (minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and resident species (beluga, Delphinapterus leucas), correlated with low krill abundance since 1994. Positive NAO indices were positively correlated with high frequencies of stranding events for resident and seasonal migratory cetaceans, as well as rare species (R(2)adj = 0.53, 0.81 and 0.34, respectively). This contrasts with seal mass stranding numbers, which were negatively correlated with a positive NAO index. In addition, an unusual multiple species mortality event (n = 114, 62% of total annual mortality) in 2008 was caused by a harmful algal bloom. Our findings provide an empirical baseline in understanding marine mammal survival when faced with climatic variability. This is a promising step in integrating stranding records to monitor the consequences of ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera acutorostrata Beluga Beluga* Cystophora cristata Delphinapterus leucas hooded seal minke whale North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Sea ice Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 8 3 e59311 |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Marie-Hélène Truchon Lena Measures Vincent L'Hérault Jean-Claude Brêthes Peter S Galbraith Michel Harvey Sylvie Lessard Michel Starr Nicolas Lecomte Marine mammal strandings and environmental changes: a 15-year study in the St. Lawrence ecosystem. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Understanding the effects of climatic variability on marine mammals is challenging due to the complexity of ecological interactions. We used general linear models to analyze a 15-year database documenting marine mammal strandings (1994-2008; n = 1,193) and nine environmental parameters known to affect marine mammal survival, from regional (sea ice) to continental scales (North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO). Stranding events were more frequent during summer and fall than other seasons, and have increased since 1994. Poor ice conditions observed during the same period may have affected marine mammals either directly, by modulating the availability of habitat for feeding and breeding activities, or indirectly, through changes in water conditions and marine productivity (krill abundance). For most species (75%, n = 6 species), a low volume of ice was correlated with increasing frequency of stranding events (e.g. R(2)adj = 0.59, hooded seal, Cystophora cristata). This likely led to an increase in seal mortality during the breeding period, but also to increase habitat availability for seasonal migratory cetaceans using ice-free areas during winter. We also detected a high frequency of stranding events for mysticete species (minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and resident species (beluga, Delphinapterus leucas), correlated with low krill abundance since 1994. Positive NAO indices were positively correlated with high frequencies of stranding events for resident and seasonal migratory cetaceans, as well as rare species (R(2)adj = 0.53, 0.81 and 0.34, respectively). This contrasts with seal mass stranding numbers, which were negatively correlated with a positive NAO index. In addition, an unusual multiple species mortality event (n = 114, 62% of total annual mortality) in 2008 was caused by a harmful algal bloom. Our findings provide an empirical baseline in understanding marine mammal survival when faced with climatic variability. This is a promising step in integrating stranding records to monitor the consequences of ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marie-Hélène Truchon Lena Measures Vincent L'Hérault Jean-Claude Brêthes Peter S Galbraith Michel Harvey Sylvie Lessard Michel Starr Nicolas Lecomte |
author_facet |
Marie-Hélène Truchon Lena Measures Vincent L'Hérault Jean-Claude Brêthes Peter S Galbraith Michel Harvey Sylvie Lessard Michel Starr Nicolas Lecomte |
author_sort |
Marie-Hélène Truchon |
title |
Marine mammal strandings and environmental changes: a 15-year study in the St. Lawrence ecosystem. |
title_short |
Marine mammal strandings and environmental changes: a 15-year study in the St. Lawrence ecosystem. |
title_full |
Marine mammal strandings and environmental changes: a 15-year study in the St. Lawrence ecosystem. |
title_fullStr |
Marine mammal strandings and environmental changes: a 15-year study in the St. Lawrence ecosystem. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Marine mammal strandings and environmental changes: a 15-year study in the St. Lawrence ecosystem. |
title_sort |
marine mammal strandings and environmental changes: a 15-year study in the st. lawrence ecosystem. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059311 https://doaj.org/article/0a91912c46ae4a8db8b1b1e05a7b1e26 |
genre |
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Beluga Beluga* Cystophora cristata Delphinapterus leucas hooded seal minke whale North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Beluga Beluga* Cystophora cristata Delphinapterus leucas hooded seal minke whale North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Sea ice |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 3, p e59311 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3609766?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059311 https://doaj.org/article/0a91912c46ae4a8db8b1b1e05a7b1e26 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059311 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
e59311 |
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