Whale distribution in a breeding area:spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales
The western South Atlantic humpback whale population was severely depleted by commercial whaling in the late 19th and 20th centuries, and today inhabits a human-impacted environment in its wintering grounds off the Brazilian coast. We identified distribution patterns related to environmental feature...
Published in: | Marine Ecology Progress Series |
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Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2017
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Online Access: | https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/whale-distribution-in-a-breeding-area(f57d7712-3d7f-4fcf-99a6-81ff71c95a24).html https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12393 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/16764/1/Bortolotto_etal_MEPS_2017_with_supplement.pdf |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/f57d7712-3d7f-4fcf-99a6-81ff71c95a24 2023-05-15T16:36:07+02:00 Whale distribution in a breeding area:spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales Bortolotto, Guilherme Augusto Danilewicz, Daniel Hammond, Philip Steven Thomas, Leonard Joseph Zerbini, Alexandre N 2017-12-27 application/pdf https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/whale-distribution-in-a-breeding-area(f57d7712-3d7f-4fcf-99a6-81ff71c95a24).html https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12393 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/16764/1/Bortolotto_etal_MEPS_2017_with_supplement.pdf eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Bortolotto , G A , Danilewicz , D , Hammond , P S , Thomas , L J & Zerbini , A N 2017 , ' Whale distribution in a breeding area : spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales ' , Marine Ecology Progress Series , vol. 585 , pp. 213-227 . https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12393 Shelter Conservation Density surface model Cetacean Line transect Reproduction article 2017 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12393 2022-07-21T07:00:46Z The western South Atlantic humpback whale population was severely depleted by commercial whaling in the late 19th and 20th centuries, and today inhabits a human-impacted environment in its wintering grounds off the Brazilian coast. We identified distribution patterns related to environmental features and provide new estimates of population size, which can inform future management actions. We fitted spatial models to line transect data from 2 research cruises conducted in 2008 and 2012 to investigate (1) habitat use and (2) abundance of humpback whales wintering in the Brazilian continental shelf. Potential explanatory variables were year, depth, seabed slope, sea-surface temperature (SST), northing and easting, current speed, wind speed, distance to coastline and to the continental shelf break, and shelter (a combination of wind speed and SST categories). Whale density was higher in slower currents, at shorter distances to both the coastline and shelf break, and at SSTs between 24 and 25°C. The distribution of whales was also strongly related to shelter. For abundance estimation, easting and northing were included in the model instead of SST; estimates were 14264 whales (CV = 0.084) for 2008 and 20389 (CV = 0.071) for 2012. Environmental variables explained well the variation in whale density; higher density was found to the south of the Abrolhos Archipelago, and shelter seems to be important for these animals in their breeding area. Estimated distribution patterns presented here can be used to mitigate potential human-related impacts, such as supporting protection in the population’s core habitat near the Abrolhos Archipelago. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale University of St Andrews: Research Portal Marine Ecology Progress Series 585 213 227 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
Shelter Conservation Density surface model Cetacean Line transect Reproduction |
spellingShingle |
Shelter Conservation Density surface model Cetacean Line transect Reproduction Bortolotto, Guilherme Augusto Danilewicz, Daniel Hammond, Philip Steven Thomas, Leonard Joseph Zerbini, Alexandre N Whale distribution in a breeding area:spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales |
topic_facet |
Shelter Conservation Density surface model Cetacean Line transect Reproduction |
description |
The western South Atlantic humpback whale population was severely depleted by commercial whaling in the late 19th and 20th centuries, and today inhabits a human-impacted environment in its wintering grounds off the Brazilian coast. We identified distribution patterns related to environmental features and provide new estimates of population size, which can inform future management actions. We fitted spatial models to line transect data from 2 research cruises conducted in 2008 and 2012 to investigate (1) habitat use and (2) abundance of humpback whales wintering in the Brazilian continental shelf. Potential explanatory variables were year, depth, seabed slope, sea-surface temperature (SST), northing and easting, current speed, wind speed, distance to coastline and to the continental shelf break, and shelter (a combination of wind speed and SST categories). Whale density was higher in slower currents, at shorter distances to both the coastline and shelf break, and at SSTs between 24 and 25°C. The distribution of whales was also strongly related to shelter. For abundance estimation, easting and northing were included in the model instead of SST; estimates were 14264 whales (CV = 0.084) for 2008 and 20389 (CV = 0.071) for 2012. Environmental variables explained well the variation in whale density; higher density was found to the south of the Abrolhos Archipelago, and shelter seems to be important for these animals in their breeding area. Estimated distribution patterns presented here can be used to mitigate potential human-related impacts, such as supporting protection in the population’s core habitat near the Abrolhos Archipelago. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bortolotto, Guilherme Augusto Danilewicz, Daniel Hammond, Philip Steven Thomas, Leonard Joseph Zerbini, Alexandre N |
author_facet |
Bortolotto, Guilherme Augusto Danilewicz, Daniel Hammond, Philip Steven Thomas, Leonard Joseph Zerbini, Alexandre N |
author_sort |
Bortolotto, Guilherme Augusto |
title |
Whale distribution in a breeding area:spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales |
title_short |
Whale distribution in a breeding area:spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales |
title_full |
Whale distribution in a breeding area:spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales |
title_fullStr |
Whale distribution in a breeding area:spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales |
title_full_unstemmed |
Whale distribution in a breeding area:spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales |
title_sort |
whale distribution in a breeding area:spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western south atlantic humpback whales |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/whale-distribution-in-a-breeding-area(f57d7712-3d7f-4fcf-99a6-81ff71c95a24).html https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12393 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/16764/1/Bortolotto_etal_MEPS_2017_with_supplement.pdf |
genre |
Humpback Whale |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale |
op_source |
Bortolotto , G A , Danilewicz , D , Hammond , P S , Thomas , L J & Zerbini , A N 2017 , ' Whale distribution in a breeding area : spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales ' , Marine Ecology Progress Series , vol. 585 , pp. 213-227 . https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12393 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12393 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
container_volume |
585 |
container_start_page |
213 |
op_container_end_page |
227 |
_version_ |
1766026418801606656 |