Groundtruthing of pelagic forage fish detected by hydroacoustics in a whale feeding area using environmental DNA
Abstract Conservation of whales, considered as umbrella species in marine environments, requires to be able to understand their relationships with ecosystem components such as prey species, including pelagic fish. However, studying such relationships in nature is a technical challenge. In this study...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:51f2a41c0c8c4aedaec900fdd1c9de9e 2023-05-15T15:41:55+02:00 Groundtruthing of pelagic forage fish detected by hydroacoustics in a whale feeding area using environmental DNA Chloé Suzanne Berger Bérénice Bougas Samuel Turgeon Sophia Ferchiou Nadia Ménard Louis Bernatchez 2020-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.73 https://doaj.org/article/51f2a41c0c8c4aedaec900fdd1c9de9e EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.73 https://doaj.org/toc/2637-4943 2637-4943 doi:10.1002/edn3.73 https://doaj.org/article/51f2a41c0c8c4aedaec900fdd1c9de9e Environmental DNA, Vol 2, Iss 4, Pp 477-492 (2020) environmental DNA hydroacoustics pelagic fish whales Environmental sciences GE1-350 Microbial ecology QR100-130 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.73 2022-12-30T22:26:26Z Abstract Conservation of whales, considered as umbrella species in marine environments, requires to be able to understand their relationships with ecosystem components such as prey species, including pelagic fish. However, studying such relationships in nature is a technical challenge. In this study, we used two noninvasive methods in combination, namely hydroacoustics and environmental DNA (eDNA), to detect five pelagic or semipelagic fish species in the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park (Québec, Canada): the sandlance Ammodytes sp., the Atlantic herring Clupea harengus, the capelin Mallotus villosus, the rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax, and the redfish Sebastes sp. The Marine Park is a major summer feeding ground for a wide diversity of marine wildlife species, including the endangered St. Lawrence beluga whale population. Up to now, scarce research efforts have been dedicated to the estimation of pelagic fish abundance and diversity in this area. Hydroacoustics allowed to easily discriminate the classification of echoes from fish, and with certain limitations to distinguish swim bladder fish from fish without swim bladder. We used eDNA to groundtruth acoustics data and to improve species identification. eDNA analyses especially demonstrated that the capelin was the most predominant species, while the abundance of the redfish and the sandlance was strongly variable over the 2 years of the study. Our results also suggest that there are annual fluctuations in prey availability that marine mammals encounter in this area. Although the approach we used is not without constraints that should be addressed in future studies, we hope that this study will contribute to science‐based conservation and fisheries management policies. Article in Journal/Newspaper Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Environmental DNA 2 4 477 492 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
environmental DNA hydroacoustics pelagic fish whales Environmental sciences GE1-350 Microbial ecology QR100-130 |
spellingShingle |
environmental DNA hydroacoustics pelagic fish whales Environmental sciences GE1-350 Microbial ecology QR100-130 Chloé Suzanne Berger Bérénice Bougas Samuel Turgeon Sophia Ferchiou Nadia Ménard Louis Bernatchez Groundtruthing of pelagic forage fish detected by hydroacoustics in a whale feeding area using environmental DNA |
topic_facet |
environmental DNA hydroacoustics pelagic fish whales Environmental sciences GE1-350 Microbial ecology QR100-130 |
description |
Abstract Conservation of whales, considered as umbrella species in marine environments, requires to be able to understand their relationships with ecosystem components such as prey species, including pelagic fish. However, studying such relationships in nature is a technical challenge. In this study, we used two noninvasive methods in combination, namely hydroacoustics and environmental DNA (eDNA), to detect five pelagic or semipelagic fish species in the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park (Québec, Canada): the sandlance Ammodytes sp., the Atlantic herring Clupea harengus, the capelin Mallotus villosus, the rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax, and the redfish Sebastes sp. The Marine Park is a major summer feeding ground for a wide diversity of marine wildlife species, including the endangered St. Lawrence beluga whale population. Up to now, scarce research efforts have been dedicated to the estimation of pelagic fish abundance and diversity in this area. Hydroacoustics allowed to easily discriminate the classification of echoes from fish, and with certain limitations to distinguish swim bladder fish from fish without swim bladder. We used eDNA to groundtruth acoustics data and to improve species identification. eDNA analyses especially demonstrated that the capelin was the most predominant species, while the abundance of the redfish and the sandlance was strongly variable over the 2 years of the study. Our results also suggest that there are annual fluctuations in prey availability that marine mammals encounter in this area. Although the approach we used is not without constraints that should be addressed in future studies, we hope that this study will contribute to science‐based conservation and fisheries management policies. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chloé Suzanne Berger Bérénice Bougas Samuel Turgeon Sophia Ferchiou Nadia Ménard Louis Bernatchez |
author_facet |
Chloé Suzanne Berger Bérénice Bougas Samuel Turgeon Sophia Ferchiou Nadia Ménard Louis Bernatchez |
author_sort |
Chloé Suzanne Berger |
title |
Groundtruthing of pelagic forage fish detected by hydroacoustics in a whale feeding area using environmental DNA |
title_short |
Groundtruthing of pelagic forage fish detected by hydroacoustics in a whale feeding area using environmental DNA |
title_full |
Groundtruthing of pelagic forage fish detected by hydroacoustics in a whale feeding area using environmental DNA |
title_fullStr |
Groundtruthing of pelagic forage fish detected by hydroacoustics in a whale feeding area using environmental DNA |
title_full_unstemmed |
Groundtruthing of pelagic forage fish detected by hydroacoustics in a whale feeding area using environmental DNA |
title_sort |
groundtruthing of pelagic forage fish detected by hydroacoustics in a whale feeding area using environmental dna |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.73 https://doaj.org/article/51f2a41c0c8c4aedaec900fdd1c9de9e |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* |
genre_facet |
Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* |
op_source |
Environmental DNA, Vol 2, Iss 4, Pp 477-492 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.73 https://doaj.org/toc/2637-4943 2637-4943 doi:10.1002/edn3.73 https://doaj.org/article/51f2a41c0c8c4aedaec900fdd1c9de9e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.73 |
container_title |
Environmental DNA |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
477 |
op_container_end_page |
492 |
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1766374792682799104 |