Predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off East Antarctica
Open ocean predator-prey interactions are often difficult to interpret because of a lack of information on prey fields at scales relevant to predator behaviour. Hence, there is strong interest in identifying the biological and physical factors influencing the distribution and abundance of prey speci...
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Blackwell Munksgaard
2017
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03080 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/120056 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:120056 2023-05-15T13:59:47+02:00 Predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off East Antarctica Bestley, S Raymond, B Gales, NJ Harcourt, RG Hindell, MA Jonsen, ID Nicol, S Peron, C Sumner, MD Weimerskirch, H Wotherspoon, SJ Cox, MJ 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03080 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/120056 en eng Blackwell Munksgaard http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03080 Bestley, S and Raymond, B and Gales, NJ and Harcourt, RG and Hindell, MA and Jonsen, ID and Nicol, S and Peron, C and Sumner, MD and Weimerskirch, H and Wotherspoon, SJ and Cox, MJ, Predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off East Antarctica, Ecography, 41, (6) pp. 996-1012. ISSN 0906-7590 (2017) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/120056 Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03080 2022-07-04T22:16:47Z Open ocean predator-prey interactions are often difficult to interpret because of a lack of information on prey fields at scales relevant to predator behaviour. Hence, there is strong interest in identifying the biological and physical factors influencing the distribution and abundance of prey species, which may be of broad predictive use for conservation planning and evaluating effects of environmental change. This study focuses on a key Southern Ocean prey species, Antarctic krill Euphausia superba , using acoustic observations of individual swarms (aggregations) from a large-scale survey off East Antarctica. We developed two sets of statistical models describing swarm characteristics, one set using underway survey data for the explanatory variables, and the other using their satellite remotely sensed analogues. While survey data are in situ and contemporaneous with the swarm data, remotely sensed data are all that is available for prediction and inference about prey distribution in other areas or at other times. The fitted models showed that the primary biophysical influences on krill swarm characteristics included daylight (solar elevation/radiation) and proximity to the Antarctic continental slope, but there were also complex relationships with current velocities and gradients. Overall model performance was similar regardless of whether underway or remotely sensed predictors were used. We applied the latter models to generate regional-scale spatial predictions using a 10-yr remotely-sensed time series. This retrospective modelling identified areas off east Antarctica where relatively dense krill swarms were consistently predicted during austral mid-summers, which may underpin key foraging areas for marine predators. Spatiotemporal predictions along Antarctic predator satellite tracks, from independent studies, illustrate the potential for uptake into further quantitative modelling of predator movements and foraging. The approach is widely applicable to other krill-dependent ecosystems, and our findings are ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctica East Antarctica Euphausia superba Southern Ocean eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic East Antarctica Austral Ecography 41 6 996 1012 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
spellingShingle |
Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) Bestley, S Raymond, B Gales, NJ Harcourt, RG Hindell, MA Jonsen, ID Nicol, S Peron, C Sumner, MD Weimerskirch, H Wotherspoon, SJ Cox, MJ Predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off East Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
description |
Open ocean predator-prey interactions are often difficult to interpret because of a lack of information on prey fields at scales relevant to predator behaviour. Hence, there is strong interest in identifying the biological and physical factors influencing the distribution and abundance of prey species, which may be of broad predictive use for conservation planning and evaluating effects of environmental change. This study focuses on a key Southern Ocean prey species, Antarctic krill Euphausia superba , using acoustic observations of individual swarms (aggregations) from a large-scale survey off East Antarctica. We developed two sets of statistical models describing swarm characteristics, one set using underway survey data for the explanatory variables, and the other using their satellite remotely sensed analogues. While survey data are in situ and contemporaneous with the swarm data, remotely sensed data are all that is available for prediction and inference about prey distribution in other areas or at other times. The fitted models showed that the primary biophysical influences on krill swarm characteristics included daylight (solar elevation/radiation) and proximity to the Antarctic continental slope, but there were also complex relationships with current velocities and gradients. Overall model performance was similar regardless of whether underway or remotely sensed predictors were used. We applied the latter models to generate regional-scale spatial predictions using a 10-yr remotely-sensed time series. This retrospective modelling identified areas off east Antarctica where relatively dense krill swarms were consistently predicted during austral mid-summers, which may underpin key foraging areas for marine predators. Spatiotemporal predictions along Antarctic predator satellite tracks, from independent studies, illustrate the potential for uptake into further quantitative modelling of predator movements and foraging. The approach is widely applicable to other krill-dependent ecosystems, and our findings are ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bestley, S Raymond, B Gales, NJ Harcourt, RG Hindell, MA Jonsen, ID Nicol, S Peron, C Sumner, MD Weimerskirch, H Wotherspoon, SJ Cox, MJ |
author_facet |
Bestley, S Raymond, B Gales, NJ Harcourt, RG Hindell, MA Jonsen, ID Nicol, S Peron, C Sumner, MD Weimerskirch, H Wotherspoon, SJ Cox, MJ |
author_sort |
Bestley, S |
title |
Predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off East Antarctica |
title_short |
Predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off East Antarctica |
title_full |
Predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off East Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off East Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off East Antarctica |
title_sort |
predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off east antarctica |
publisher |
Blackwell Munksgaard |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03080 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/120056 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic East Antarctica Austral |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic East Antarctica Austral |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctica East Antarctica Euphausia superba Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctica East Antarctica Euphausia superba Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03080 Bestley, S and Raymond, B and Gales, NJ and Harcourt, RG and Hindell, MA and Jonsen, ID and Nicol, S and Peron, C and Sumner, MD and Weimerskirch, H and Wotherspoon, SJ and Cox, MJ, Predicting krill swarm characteristics important for marine predators foraging off East Antarctica, Ecography, 41, (6) pp. 996-1012. ISSN 0906-7590 (2017) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/120056 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03080 |
container_title |
Ecography |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
996 |
op_container_end_page |
1012 |
_version_ |
1766268588147081216 |