Identifying important habitat for northern bottlenose and Sowerby's beaked whales in the western North Atlantic
Understanding habitat requirements for species at risk is crucial for effective conservation management, even though the location and extent of vital habitats may be unknown for rare or elusive species. In the case of marine species, determining important habitat often relies on limited occurrence d...
Published in: | Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems |
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Online Access: | https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/156 https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4064 |
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ftunivwindsor:oai:scholar.uwindsor.ca:ibiopub-1155 2024-06-23T07:53:36+00:00 Identifying important habitat for northern bottlenose and Sowerby's beaked whales in the western North Atlantic Feyrer, L. J. Stanistreet, J. E. Gomez, C. Adams, M. Lawson, J. W. Ferguson, S. H. Heaslip, S. G. Lefort, K. J. Davidson, E. Hussey, N. E. Whitehead, H. Moors-Murphy, H. 2024-01-01T08:00:00Z https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/156 https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4064 unknown Scholarship at UWindsor https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/156 doi:10.1002/aqc.4064 https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4064 Integrative Biology Publications Canada conservation Critical Habitat northern bottlenose whale passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) Sowerby's beaked whale species distribution models text 2024 ftunivwindsor https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4064 2024-06-04T14:21:51Z Understanding habitat requirements for species at risk is crucial for effective conservation management, even though the location and extent of vital habitats may be unknown for rare or elusive species. In the case of marine species, determining important habitat often relies on limited occurrence data or extrapolation from species distribution models (SDMs). SDMs predict habitat by associating species records with environmental variables, assuming a functional ecological relationship. This study focuses on northern bottlenose whales (NBW; Hyperoodon ampullatus) and Sowerby's beaked whales (SBW; Mesoplodon bidens) in the western North Atlantic. As both NBW and SBW are at risk in Canada, the objective was to identify the extent and function of important habitats to guide conservation efforts. The analysis mapped all available geographic occurrence data and used passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) data to inform the development of ensemble SDMs to predict potential habitat and assess the persistence of realized habitat use. Important habitats for NBW and SBW were found primarily concentrated along the continental shelf edges, at an average depth of 1200 m ± 460 SD. All habitat areas support foraging and movement and critical life history functions for both species. The Gully and other submarine canyons off eastern Nova Scotia emerged as important areas for both species, validating the existing Critical Habitat for NBW. However, spatial–temporal patterns diverged on either side of this region. North-eastern Newfoundland was identified as the next closest area of near-year-round presence for NBW, whereas the south-western Scotian Shelf region, Georges Bank and the Fundian Channel supported persistent foraging by SBW. By integrating multiple data sources (sightings, acoustic detections and SDMs) and demonstrating the temporal persistence of habitat use by NBW and SBW, this study provides valuable insights for identifying, protecting and managing important habitat for beaked whales. Text hyperoodon ampullatus Mesoplodon bidens Newfoundland North Atlantic Northern bottlenose whale Sowerby's beaked whale University of Windsor, Ontario: Scholarship at UWindsor Canada The Gully ENVELOPE(-57.731,-57.731,51.567,51.567) Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 34 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Windsor, Ontario: Scholarship at UWindsor |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwindsor |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Canada conservation Critical Habitat northern bottlenose whale passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) Sowerby's beaked whale species distribution models |
spellingShingle |
Canada conservation Critical Habitat northern bottlenose whale passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) Sowerby's beaked whale species distribution models Feyrer, L. J. Stanistreet, J. E. Gomez, C. Adams, M. Lawson, J. W. Ferguson, S. H. Heaslip, S. G. Lefort, K. J. Davidson, E. Hussey, N. E. Whitehead, H. Moors-Murphy, H. Identifying important habitat for northern bottlenose and Sowerby's beaked whales in the western North Atlantic |
topic_facet |
Canada conservation Critical Habitat northern bottlenose whale passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) Sowerby's beaked whale species distribution models |
description |
Understanding habitat requirements for species at risk is crucial for effective conservation management, even though the location and extent of vital habitats may be unknown for rare or elusive species. In the case of marine species, determining important habitat often relies on limited occurrence data or extrapolation from species distribution models (SDMs). SDMs predict habitat by associating species records with environmental variables, assuming a functional ecological relationship. This study focuses on northern bottlenose whales (NBW; Hyperoodon ampullatus) and Sowerby's beaked whales (SBW; Mesoplodon bidens) in the western North Atlantic. As both NBW and SBW are at risk in Canada, the objective was to identify the extent and function of important habitats to guide conservation efforts. The analysis mapped all available geographic occurrence data and used passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) data to inform the development of ensemble SDMs to predict potential habitat and assess the persistence of realized habitat use. Important habitats for NBW and SBW were found primarily concentrated along the continental shelf edges, at an average depth of 1200 m ± 460 SD. All habitat areas support foraging and movement and critical life history functions for both species. The Gully and other submarine canyons off eastern Nova Scotia emerged as important areas for both species, validating the existing Critical Habitat for NBW. However, spatial–temporal patterns diverged on either side of this region. North-eastern Newfoundland was identified as the next closest area of near-year-round presence for NBW, whereas the south-western Scotian Shelf region, Georges Bank and the Fundian Channel supported persistent foraging by SBW. By integrating multiple data sources (sightings, acoustic detections and SDMs) and demonstrating the temporal persistence of habitat use by NBW and SBW, this study provides valuable insights for identifying, protecting and managing important habitat for beaked whales. |
format |
Text |
author |
Feyrer, L. J. Stanistreet, J. E. Gomez, C. Adams, M. Lawson, J. W. Ferguson, S. H. Heaslip, S. G. Lefort, K. J. Davidson, E. Hussey, N. E. Whitehead, H. Moors-Murphy, H. |
author_facet |
Feyrer, L. J. Stanistreet, J. E. Gomez, C. Adams, M. Lawson, J. W. Ferguson, S. H. Heaslip, S. G. Lefort, K. J. Davidson, E. Hussey, N. E. Whitehead, H. Moors-Murphy, H. |
author_sort |
Feyrer, L. J. |
title |
Identifying important habitat for northern bottlenose and Sowerby's beaked whales in the western North Atlantic |
title_short |
Identifying important habitat for northern bottlenose and Sowerby's beaked whales in the western North Atlantic |
title_full |
Identifying important habitat for northern bottlenose and Sowerby's beaked whales in the western North Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Identifying important habitat for northern bottlenose and Sowerby's beaked whales in the western North Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Identifying important habitat for northern bottlenose and Sowerby's beaked whales in the western North Atlantic |
title_sort |
identifying important habitat for northern bottlenose and sowerby's beaked whales in the western north atlantic |
publisher |
Scholarship at UWindsor |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/156 https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4064 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-57.731,-57.731,51.567,51.567) |
geographic |
Canada The Gully |
geographic_facet |
Canada The Gully |
genre |
hyperoodon ampullatus Mesoplodon bidens Newfoundland North Atlantic Northern bottlenose whale Sowerby's beaked whale |
genre_facet |
hyperoodon ampullatus Mesoplodon bidens Newfoundland North Atlantic Northern bottlenose whale Sowerby's beaked whale |
op_source |
Integrative Biology Publications |
op_relation |
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/156 doi:10.1002/aqc.4064 https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4064 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4064 |
container_title |
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems |
container_volume |
34 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1802645350006128640 |