The Abundance and Behavioral Ecology of Cape Cod Gray Seals Under Predation Risk From White Sharks
The ultimate goal of wildlife recovery is abundance growth of a species, though it must also involve the reestablishment of the species’ ecological role within ecosystems frequently modified by humans. Reestablishment and subsequent recovery may depend on the species’ degree of adaptive behavior as...
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ftdukeunivdsp:oai:localhost:10161/12167 2023-11-12T04:23:28+01:00 The Abundance and Behavioral Ecology of Cape Cod Gray Seals Under Predation Risk From White Sharks Moxley, Jerry Hall Halpin, Patrick N 2016 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12167 unknown https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12167 Ecology Conservation biology Wildlife conservation Animal movement Behavioral ecology Cape Cod Gray seal Predation Risk Dissertation 2016 ftdukeunivdsp 2023-10-17T09:43:02Z The ultimate goal of wildlife recovery is abundance growth of a species, though it must also involve the reestablishment of the species’ ecological role within ecosystems frequently modified by humans. Reestablishment and subsequent recovery may depend on the species’ degree of adaptive behavior as well as the duration of their functional absence and the extent of ecosystem alteration. In cases of long extirpations or extensive alteration, successful reestablishment may entail adjusting foraging behavior, targeting new prey species, and encountering unfamiliar predatory or competitive regimes. Recovering species must also increasingly tolerate heightened anthropogenic presence, particularly within densely inhabited coastal zones. In recent decades, gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) recovered from exploitation, depletion, and partial extirpation in the Northwest Atlantic. On Cape Cod, MA, USA, gray seals have reestablished growing breeding colonies and seasonally interact with migratory white sharks (Carcarodon carcharias). Though well-studied in portions of their range due to concerns over piscivorous impacts on valuable groundfish, there are broad knowledge gaps regarding their ecological role to US marine ecosystems. Furthermore, there are few studies that explicitly analyze gray seal behavior under direct risk of documented shark predation. In this dissertation, I apply a behavioral and movement ecology approach to telemetry data to understand gray seal abundance and activity patterns along the coast of Cape Cod. This coastal focus complements extensive research documenting and describing offshore movement and foraging behavior and allows me to address questions about movement decisions and risk allocation. Using beach counts of seals visible in satellite imagery, I estimate the total regional abundance of gray seals using correction factors from haul out behavior and demonstrate a sizeable prey base of gray seals locally. Analyzing intra-annual space use patterns, I document small, concentrated home ranges ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Northwest Atlantic Duke University Libraries: DukeSpace |
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Ecology Conservation biology Wildlife conservation Animal movement Behavioral ecology Cape Cod Gray seal Predation Risk |
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Ecology Conservation biology Wildlife conservation Animal movement Behavioral ecology Cape Cod Gray seal Predation Risk Moxley, Jerry Hall The Abundance and Behavioral Ecology of Cape Cod Gray Seals Under Predation Risk From White Sharks |
topic_facet |
Ecology Conservation biology Wildlife conservation Animal movement Behavioral ecology Cape Cod Gray seal Predation Risk |
description |
The ultimate goal of wildlife recovery is abundance growth of a species, though it must also involve the reestablishment of the species’ ecological role within ecosystems frequently modified by humans. Reestablishment and subsequent recovery may depend on the species’ degree of adaptive behavior as well as the duration of their functional absence and the extent of ecosystem alteration. In cases of long extirpations or extensive alteration, successful reestablishment may entail adjusting foraging behavior, targeting new prey species, and encountering unfamiliar predatory or competitive regimes. Recovering species must also increasingly tolerate heightened anthropogenic presence, particularly within densely inhabited coastal zones. In recent decades, gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) recovered from exploitation, depletion, and partial extirpation in the Northwest Atlantic. On Cape Cod, MA, USA, gray seals have reestablished growing breeding colonies and seasonally interact with migratory white sharks (Carcarodon carcharias). Though well-studied in portions of their range due to concerns over piscivorous impacts on valuable groundfish, there are broad knowledge gaps regarding their ecological role to US marine ecosystems. Furthermore, there are few studies that explicitly analyze gray seal behavior under direct risk of documented shark predation. In this dissertation, I apply a behavioral and movement ecology approach to telemetry data to understand gray seal abundance and activity patterns along the coast of Cape Cod. This coastal focus complements extensive research documenting and describing offshore movement and foraging behavior and allows me to address questions about movement decisions and risk allocation. Using beach counts of seals visible in satellite imagery, I estimate the total regional abundance of gray seals using correction factors from haul out behavior and demonstrate a sizeable prey base of gray seals locally. Analyzing intra-annual space use patterns, I document small, concentrated home ranges ... |
author2 |
Halpin, Patrick N |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Moxley, Jerry Hall |
author_facet |
Moxley, Jerry Hall |
author_sort |
Moxley, Jerry Hall |
title |
The Abundance and Behavioral Ecology of Cape Cod Gray Seals Under Predation Risk From White Sharks |
title_short |
The Abundance and Behavioral Ecology of Cape Cod Gray Seals Under Predation Risk From White Sharks |
title_full |
The Abundance and Behavioral Ecology of Cape Cod Gray Seals Under Predation Risk From White Sharks |
title_fullStr |
The Abundance and Behavioral Ecology of Cape Cod Gray Seals Under Predation Risk From White Sharks |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Abundance and Behavioral Ecology of Cape Cod Gray Seals Under Predation Risk From White Sharks |
title_sort |
abundance and behavioral ecology of cape cod gray seals under predation risk from white sharks |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12167 |
genre |
Northwest Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northwest Atlantic |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12167 |
_version_ |
1782338224083959808 |