Haul-out behaviour of walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) monitored by camera stations - potential impacts of tourist visitations
The rapid growth of tourism in Polar Regions stimulates a need for investigating potential impacts on targeted species and sensitive areas, such as walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) haul-out sites. This study examines effects of tourist visitations on haul-out dynamics and site use by walruses in Svalbard,...
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UiT Norges arktiske universitet
2017
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/12784 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/12784 2023-05-15T15:18:01+02:00 Haul-out behaviour of walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) monitored by camera stations - potential impacts of tourist visitations Øren, Kine 2017-05-16 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/12784 eng eng UiT Norges arktiske universitet UiT The Arctic University of Norway https://hdl.handle.net/10037/12784 openAccess Copyright 2017 The Author(s) Ecology Marine Biology Arctic Svalbard Tourism Disturbance Predation Walrus Haul-out Polar bear VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Marinbiologi: 497 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Marine biology: 497 BIO-3950 Master thesis Mastergradsoppgave 2017 ftunivtroemsoe 2021-06-25T17:55:56Z The rapid growth of tourism in Polar Regions stimulates a need for investigating potential impacts on targeted species and sensitive areas, such as walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) haul-out sites. This study examines effects of tourist visitations on haul-out dynamics and site use by walruses in Svalbard, Norway. Camera stations were established at five traditional walrus haul-out sites that experience variable levels of tourist visitation. The cameras took one photograph each hour, throughout June-November from 2007-2015 (3 sites) and 2010-2015 (2 sites). A total of 66,365 images were analysed in this study. The number of walruses on shore, and % sea ice cover was estimated for each image. Additionally, the presence/absence of tourists, boats and polar bears (Ursus maritimus) was recorded. A log-linear regression model was run on residuals from an ARIMA model fitted to the time series. Site use by walruses was sometimes restricted by sea ice cover, but walruses were also absent (or present rarely) at some sites, despite a lack of sea ice. Tourists and boats did not disturb walrus haul-out behaviour significantly (p>0.05) at any of the study sites. Additionally, most polar bear visits were not associated with any detectable disturbance. However, polar bears did significantly disturb walrus herds at Andréetangen (p=3.47^-5) and Storøya (p=1.52^-5) in some years. These disturbances were likely associated with predation attempts on calves. Given the increasing number of calves in Svalbard, and the high numbers of bears on shore during increasingly longer ice-free seasons, such disturbances are likely to increase in the future. Master Thesis Arctic Odobenus rosmarus Sea ice Storøya Storøya Svalbard Ursus maritimus walrus* University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Andréetangen ENVELOPE(22.664,22.664,77.408,77.408) Arctic Norway Storøya ENVELOPE(7.761,7.761,62.515,62.515) Svalbard |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology Marine Biology Arctic Svalbard Tourism Disturbance Predation Walrus Haul-out Polar bear VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Marinbiologi: 497 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Marine biology: 497 BIO-3950 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Marine Biology Arctic Svalbard Tourism Disturbance Predation Walrus Haul-out Polar bear VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Marinbiologi: 497 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Marine biology: 497 BIO-3950 Øren, Kine Haul-out behaviour of walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) monitored by camera stations - potential impacts of tourist visitations |
topic_facet |
Ecology Marine Biology Arctic Svalbard Tourism Disturbance Predation Walrus Haul-out Polar bear VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Marinbiologi: 497 VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Marine biology: 497 BIO-3950 |
description |
The rapid growth of tourism in Polar Regions stimulates a need for investigating potential impacts on targeted species and sensitive areas, such as walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) haul-out sites. This study examines effects of tourist visitations on haul-out dynamics and site use by walruses in Svalbard, Norway. Camera stations were established at five traditional walrus haul-out sites that experience variable levels of tourist visitation. The cameras took one photograph each hour, throughout June-November from 2007-2015 (3 sites) and 2010-2015 (2 sites). A total of 66,365 images were analysed in this study. The number of walruses on shore, and % sea ice cover was estimated for each image. Additionally, the presence/absence of tourists, boats and polar bears (Ursus maritimus) was recorded. A log-linear regression model was run on residuals from an ARIMA model fitted to the time series. Site use by walruses was sometimes restricted by sea ice cover, but walruses were also absent (or present rarely) at some sites, despite a lack of sea ice. Tourists and boats did not disturb walrus haul-out behaviour significantly (p>0.05) at any of the study sites. Additionally, most polar bear visits were not associated with any detectable disturbance. However, polar bears did significantly disturb walrus herds at Andréetangen (p=3.47^-5) and Storøya (p=1.52^-5) in some years. These disturbances were likely associated with predation attempts on calves. Given the increasing number of calves in Svalbard, and the high numbers of bears on shore during increasingly longer ice-free seasons, such disturbances are likely to increase in the future. |
format |
Master Thesis |
author |
Øren, Kine |
author_facet |
Øren, Kine |
author_sort |
Øren, Kine |
title |
Haul-out behaviour of walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) monitored by camera stations - potential impacts of tourist visitations |
title_short |
Haul-out behaviour of walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) monitored by camera stations - potential impacts of tourist visitations |
title_full |
Haul-out behaviour of walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) monitored by camera stations - potential impacts of tourist visitations |
title_fullStr |
Haul-out behaviour of walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) monitored by camera stations - potential impacts of tourist visitations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Haul-out behaviour of walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) monitored by camera stations - potential impacts of tourist visitations |
title_sort |
haul-out behaviour of walruses (odobenus rosmarus) monitored by camera stations - potential impacts of tourist visitations |
publisher |
UiT Norges arktiske universitet |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/12784 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(22.664,22.664,77.408,77.408) ENVELOPE(7.761,7.761,62.515,62.515) |
geographic |
Andréetangen Arctic Norway Storøya Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Andréetangen Arctic Norway Storøya Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Odobenus rosmarus Sea ice Storøya Storøya Svalbard Ursus maritimus walrus* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Odobenus rosmarus Sea ice Storøya Storøya Svalbard Ursus maritimus walrus* |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/12784 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2017 The Author(s) |
_version_ |
1766348250142474240 |