Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year-round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current
Aim: Understanding the spatial ecology of endangered species is crucial to predicting habitat use at scales relevant to conservation and management. Here, we aim to model the influence of biophysical conditions on habitat suitability for endangered fin whales Balaenoptera physalus, with a view to in...
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Language: | English |
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Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
2017
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12611 |
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ftunivscoast:usc:23529 2023-05-15T15:36:43+02:00 Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year-round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current Scales, Kylie L Schorr, Gregory S Hazen, Elliott L Bograd, Steven J Miller, Peter I Andrews, Russel D Zerbini, Alexandre N Falcone, Erin A 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12611 eng eng Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. usc:23529 URN:ISSN: 1366-9516 Copyright © 2017 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. This is the accepted version of the following article: Scales KL, Schorr GS, Hazen EL, et al. Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year‐round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current. Divers Distrib. 2017;23:1204–1215. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12611, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12611 FoR 05 (Environmental Sciences) FoR 06 (Biological Sciences) cetacean Finite-Size Lyapunov Exponent habitat model LIMPET tag ocean fronts remote sensing satellite tracking species distribution model telemetry upwelling Journal Article 2017 ftunivscoast https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12611 2020-06-01T22:26:18Z Aim: Understanding the spatial ecology of endangered species is crucial to predicting habitat use at scales relevant to conservation and management. Here, we aim to model the influence of biophysical conditions on habitat suitability for endangered fin whales Balaenoptera physalus, with a view to informing management in a heavily impacted ocean region. Location: We satellite-tracked the movements of 67 fin whales through the California Current System (CCS), a dynamic eastern bound ry upwelling ecosystem in the Northeast Pacific. Methods: We use a multi-scale modelling framework to elucidate biophysical influences on habitat suitability for fin whales in the CCS. Using generalized additive mixed models, we quantify the influence of a suite of remotely sensed variables on broadscale patterns of occupancy and present the first year-round, high-resolution predictions of seasonal habitat suitability. Further, we model the influence of contemporaneous biophysical conditions on individual level residence times in high-use habitat. Results: We present evidence of year-round habitat suitability in the southern California Current System, robust to interannual variability, establishing that North Pacific fin whales do not follow the canonical baleen whale migration model. Within the high-use habitat in the Southern California Bight (SCB), individual-level residency in localized areas (n = 16 for >30 days; n = 4 for >6 months) was associated with warm, shallow, nearshore waters (>18°C, <500 m) with cool waters (14–15°C) occurring over complex seafloor topographies and with convergent (sub)mesoscale structures at the surface. Main Conclusions: Biophysical conditions in the southern CCS generate productive foraging habitats that can support the fin whale population year-round and allow for extended periods of residency in localized areas. High-use habitats for fin whales are colocated with areas of intense human use, including international shipping routes and a major naval training range. Seaso nal habitat suitability maps presented here could inform the management of anthropogenic threats to endangered baleen whales in this globally significant biodiversity hotspot. Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera physalus baleen whale baleen whales Fin whale University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia: COAST Research Database Pacific Diversity and Distributions 23 10 1204 1215 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia: COAST Research Database |
op_collection_id |
ftunivscoast |
language |
English |
topic |
FoR 05 (Environmental Sciences) FoR 06 (Biological Sciences) cetacean Finite-Size Lyapunov Exponent habitat model LIMPET tag ocean fronts remote sensing satellite tracking species distribution model telemetry upwelling |
spellingShingle |
FoR 05 (Environmental Sciences) FoR 06 (Biological Sciences) cetacean Finite-Size Lyapunov Exponent habitat model LIMPET tag ocean fronts remote sensing satellite tracking species distribution model telemetry upwelling Scales, Kylie L Schorr, Gregory S Hazen, Elliott L Bograd, Steven J Miller, Peter I Andrews, Russel D Zerbini, Alexandre N Falcone, Erin A Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year-round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current |
topic_facet |
FoR 05 (Environmental Sciences) FoR 06 (Biological Sciences) cetacean Finite-Size Lyapunov Exponent habitat model LIMPET tag ocean fronts remote sensing satellite tracking species distribution model telemetry upwelling |
description |
Aim: Understanding the spatial ecology of endangered species is crucial to predicting habitat use at scales relevant to conservation and management. Here, we aim to model the influence of biophysical conditions on habitat suitability for endangered fin whales Balaenoptera physalus, with a view to informing management in a heavily impacted ocean region. Location: We satellite-tracked the movements of 67 fin whales through the California Current System (CCS), a dynamic eastern bound ry upwelling ecosystem in the Northeast Pacific. Methods: We use a multi-scale modelling framework to elucidate biophysical influences on habitat suitability for fin whales in the CCS. Using generalized additive mixed models, we quantify the influence of a suite of remotely sensed variables on broadscale patterns of occupancy and present the first year-round, high-resolution predictions of seasonal habitat suitability. Further, we model the influence of contemporaneous biophysical conditions on individual level residence times in high-use habitat. Results: We present evidence of year-round habitat suitability in the southern California Current System, robust to interannual variability, establishing that North Pacific fin whales do not follow the canonical baleen whale migration model. Within the high-use habitat in the Southern California Bight (SCB), individual-level residency in localized areas (n = 16 for >30 days; n = 4 for >6 months) was associated with warm, shallow, nearshore waters (>18°C, <500 m) with cool waters (14–15°C) occurring over complex seafloor topographies and with convergent (sub)mesoscale structures at the surface. Main Conclusions: Biophysical conditions in the southern CCS generate productive foraging habitats that can support the fin whale population year-round and allow for extended periods of residency in localized areas. High-use habitats for fin whales are colocated with areas of intense human use, including international shipping routes and a major naval training range. Seaso nal habitat suitability maps presented here could inform the management of anthropogenic threats to endangered baleen whales in this globally significant biodiversity hotspot. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Scales, Kylie L Schorr, Gregory S Hazen, Elliott L Bograd, Steven J Miller, Peter I Andrews, Russel D Zerbini, Alexandre N Falcone, Erin A |
author_facet |
Scales, Kylie L Schorr, Gregory S Hazen, Elliott L Bograd, Steven J Miller, Peter I Andrews, Russel D Zerbini, Alexandre N Falcone, Erin A |
author_sort |
Scales, Kylie L |
title |
Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year-round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current |
title_short |
Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year-round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current |
title_full |
Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year-round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current |
title_fullStr |
Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year-round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current |
title_full_unstemmed |
Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year-round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current |
title_sort |
should i stay or should i go? modelling year-round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the california current |
publisher |
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12611 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
Balaenoptera physalus baleen whale baleen whales Fin whale |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera physalus baleen whale baleen whales Fin whale |
op_relation |
usc:23529 URN:ISSN: 1366-9516 |
op_rights |
Copyright © 2017 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. This is the accepted version of the following article: Scales KL, Schorr GS, Hazen EL, et al. Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year‐round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current. Divers Distrib. 2017;23:1204–1215. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12611, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12611 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12611 |
container_title |
Diversity and Distributions |
container_volume |
23 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
1204 |
op_container_end_page |
1215 |
_version_ |
1766367081661464576 |