Population structure of humpback whales in the western and central South Pacific Ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations
For cetaceans, population structure is traditionally determined by molecular genetics or photographically identified individuals. Acoustic data, however, has provided information on movement and population structure with less effort and cost than traditional methods in an array of taxa. Male humpbac...
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2015
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ftunivqespace:oai:espace.library.uq.edu.au:UQ:356568 2023-05-15T16:36:11+02:00 Population structure of humpback whales in the western and central South Pacific Ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations Garland, Ellen C. Goldizen, Anne W. Lilley, Matthew S. Rekdahl, Melinda L. Garrigue, Claire Constantine, Rochelle Hauser, Nan Daeschle Poole, M. Michael Robbins, Jooke Noad, Michael J. 2015-08-01 https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:356568 eng eng Blackwell Publishing doi:10.1111/cobi.12492 issn:0888-8892 issn:1523-1739 orcid:0000-0003-0101-4108 orcid:0000-0002-2799-8320 Not set smru10001 Acoustic display Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Population structure Song South Pacific Vocal Whale culture 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 2303 Ecology 2309 Nature and Landscape Conservation Journal Article 2015 ftunivqespace https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12492 2020-12-08T00:08:44Z For cetaceans, population structure is traditionally determined by molecular genetics or photographically identified individuals. Acoustic data, however, has provided information on movement and population structure with less effort and cost than traditional methods in an array of taxa. Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce a continually evolving vocal sexual display, or song, that is similar among all males in a population. The rapid cultural transmission (the transfer of information or behavior between conspecifics through social learning) of different versions of this display between distinct but interconnected populations in the western and central South Pacific region presents a unique way to investigate population structure based on the movement dynamics of a song (acoustic) display. Using 11 years of data, we investigated an acoustically based population structure for the region by comparing stereotyped song sequences among populations and years. We used the Levenshtein distance technique to group previously defined populations into (vocally based) clusters based on the overall similarity of their song display in space and time. We identified the following distinct vocal clusters: western cluster, 1 population off eastern Australia; central cluster, populations around New Caledonia, Tonga, and American Samoa; and eastern region, either a single cluster or 2 clusters, one around the Cook Islands and the other off French Polynesia. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that each breeding aggregation represents a distinct population (each occupied a single, terminal node) in a metapopulation, similar to the current understanding of population structure based on genetic and photo-identification studies. However, the central vocal cluster had higher levels of song-sharing among populations than the other clusters, indicating that levels of vocal connectivity varied within the region. Our results demonstrate the utility and value of using culturally transmitted vocal patterns as a way of defining connectivity to infer population structure. We suggest vocal patterns be incorporated by the International Whaling Commission in conjunction with traditional methods in the assessment of structure. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace Pacific Tonga ENVELOPE(7.990,7.990,63.065,63.065) Conservation Biology 29 4 1198 1207 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftunivqespace |
language |
English |
topic |
Acoustic display Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Population structure Song South Pacific Vocal Whale culture 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 2303 Ecology 2309 Nature and Landscape Conservation |
spellingShingle |
Acoustic display Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Population structure Song South Pacific Vocal Whale culture 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 2303 Ecology 2309 Nature and Landscape Conservation Garland, Ellen C. Goldizen, Anne W. Lilley, Matthew S. Rekdahl, Melinda L. Garrigue, Claire Constantine, Rochelle Hauser, Nan Daeschle Poole, M. Michael Robbins, Jooke Noad, Michael J. Population structure of humpback whales in the western and central South Pacific Ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations |
topic_facet |
Acoustic display Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Population structure Song South Pacific Vocal Whale culture 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 2303 Ecology 2309 Nature and Landscape Conservation |
description |
For cetaceans, population structure is traditionally determined by molecular genetics or photographically identified individuals. Acoustic data, however, has provided information on movement and population structure with less effort and cost than traditional methods in an array of taxa. Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce a continually evolving vocal sexual display, or song, that is similar among all males in a population. The rapid cultural transmission (the transfer of information or behavior between conspecifics through social learning) of different versions of this display between distinct but interconnected populations in the western and central South Pacific region presents a unique way to investigate population structure based on the movement dynamics of a song (acoustic) display. Using 11 years of data, we investigated an acoustically based population structure for the region by comparing stereotyped song sequences among populations and years. We used the Levenshtein distance technique to group previously defined populations into (vocally based) clusters based on the overall similarity of their song display in space and time. We identified the following distinct vocal clusters: western cluster, 1 population off eastern Australia; central cluster, populations around New Caledonia, Tonga, and American Samoa; and eastern region, either a single cluster or 2 clusters, one around the Cook Islands and the other off French Polynesia. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that each breeding aggregation represents a distinct population (each occupied a single, terminal node) in a metapopulation, similar to the current understanding of population structure based on genetic and photo-identification studies. However, the central vocal cluster had higher levels of song-sharing among populations than the other clusters, indicating that levels of vocal connectivity varied within the region. Our results demonstrate the utility and value of using culturally transmitted vocal patterns as a way of defining connectivity to infer population structure. We suggest vocal patterns be incorporated by the International Whaling Commission in conjunction with traditional methods in the assessment of structure. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Garland, Ellen C. Goldizen, Anne W. Lilley, Matthew S. Rekdahl, Melinda L. Garrigue, Claire Constantine, Rochelle Hauser, Nan Daeschle Poole, M. Michael Robbins, Jooke Noad, Michael J. |
author_facet |
Garland, Ellen C. Goldizen, Anne W. Lilley, Matthew S. Rekdahl, Melinda L. Garrigue, Claire Constantine, Rochelle Hauser, Nan Daeschle Poole, M. Michael Robbins, Jooke Noad, Michael J. |
author_sort |
Garland, Ellen C. |
title |
Population structure of humpback whales in the western and central South Pacific Ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations |
title_short |
Population structure of humpback whales in the western and central South Pacific Ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations |
title_full |
Population structure of humpback whales in the western and central South Pacific Ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations |
title_fullStr |
Population structure of humpback whales in the western and central South Pacific Ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Population structure of humpback whales in the western and central South Pacific Ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations |
title_sort |
population structure of humpback whales in the western and central south pacific ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations |
publisher |
Blackwell Publishing |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:356568 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(7.990,7.990,63.065,63.065) |
geographic |
Pacific Tonga |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Tonga |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_relation |
doi:10.1111/cobi.12492 issn:0888-8892 issn:1523-1739 orcid:0000-0003-0101-4108 orcid:0000-0002-2799-8320 Not set smru10001 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12492 |
container_title |
Conservation Biology |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1198 |
op_container_end_page |
1207 |
_version_ |
1766026491678687232 |