Hotspots in cold seas: The composition, distribution, and abundance of marine birds in the North American Arctic

Wong, Sarah N. P.; Gjerdrum, Carina; Morgan, Kelly; Mallory, Mark L.

doi:10.1002/2013jc009198

Cited by 38 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In the East, many of the fjords along Baffin Island are high energy systems due to increased organic carbon content in the water column via primary productivity (Syvitski, LeBlanc, & Cranston, ), and therefore have the ability to support high densities of upper trophic‐level predators as observed in our study. Huettmann, Artukhin, Gilg, and Humphries () and Wong, Gjerdum, Morgan, and Mallory () documented seabird hotspots in similar areas using predictive modelling and at‐sea observer data, respectively. Combining other data types (i.e., at‐sea observation, fisheries independent survey) and telemetry data from other pan‐Arctic population/species that overwinter in our study area (i.e., dovekies from Spitsbergen and Bjørnøya; Fort et al., ) with our telemetry data will further refine our multispecies hotspots.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Abundance and species diversity hotspots of tracked marine predators across the North American Arctic

Yurkowski

Auger‐Méthé

Mallory

et al. 2018

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim Climate change is altering marine ecosystems worldwide and is most pronounced in the Arctic. Economic development is increasing leading to more disturbances and pressures on Arctic wildlife. Identifying areas that support higher levels of predator abundance and biodiversity is important for the implementation of targeted conservation measures across the Arctic. Location Primarily Canadian Arctic marine waters but also parts of the United States, Greenland and Russia. Methods We compiled the largest data set of existing telemetry data for marine predators in the North American Arctic consisting of 1,283 individuals from 21 species. Data were arranged into four species groups: (a) cetaceans and pinnipeds, (b) polar bears Ursus maritimus (c) seabirds, and (d) fishes to address the following objectives: (a) to identify abundance hotspots for each species group in the summer–autumn and winter–spring; (b) to identify species diversity hotspots across all species groups and extent of overlap with exclusive economic zones; and (c) to perform a gap analysis that assesses amount of overlap between species diversity hotspots with existing protected areas. Results Abundance and species diversity hotpots during summer–autumn and winter–spring were identified in Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Amundsen Gulf, and the Beaufort, Chukchi and Bering seas both within and across species groups. Abundance and species diversity hotpots occurred within the continental slope in summer–autumn and offshore in areas of moving pack ice in winter–spring. Gap analysis revealed that the current level of conservation protection that overlaps species diversity hotspots is low covering only 5% (77,498 km2) in summer–autumn and 7% (83,202 km2) in winter–spring. Main conclusions We identified several areas of potential importance for Arctic marine predators that could provide policymakers with a starting point for conservation measures given the multitude of threats facing the Arctic. These results are relevant to multilevel and multinational governance to protect this vulnerable ecosystem in our rapidly changing world.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Abundance and species diversity hotspots of tracked marine predators across the North American Arctic

Yurkowski

Auger‐Méthé

Mallory

et al. 2018

Diversity and Distributions

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“…Kernel density estimation is a common method for estimating relative density in animal populations that aggregate and has been used repeatedly to identify waterbird hotspot locations and marine areas in need of protection (Wilson et al, , O'Brien et al, , Suryan et al, , and Wong et al, ). This modelling approach converts point data (i.e.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kernel density estimation is an interpolation technique that is used to estimate the probability density function of a variable of interest (e.g. abundance) to identify areas of high density (O'Brien, Webb, Brewer, & Reid, ; Suryan et al, ; Wilson et al, ; Wong, Gjerdrum, Morgan, & Mallory, ). A less common spatial statistic for detecting hotspots is the Getis‐Ord G i * statistic ( G i * ), which allows for cluster evaluation within a specified distance of a single point but does not smooth over grid cells (Getis & Ord, ; Kuletz, ; Santora, Reiss, Loeb, & Veit, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative analysis of common methods to identify waterbird hotspots

et al. 2019

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Hotspot analysis is a commonly used method in ecology and conservation to identify areas of high biodiversity or conservation concern. However, delineating and mapping hotspots is subjective and various approaches can lead to different conclusions with regard to the classification of particular areas as hotspots, complicating long‐term conservation planning. We present a comparative analysis of recent approaches for identifying waterbird hotspots, with the goal of developing insights about the appropriate use of these methods. We selected four commonly used measures to identify persistent areas of high use: kernel density estimation, Getis‐Ord Gi*, hotspot persistence and hotspots conditional on presence, which represent the range of quantitative hotspot estimation approaches used in waterbird analyses. We applied each of the methods to aerial survey waterbird count data collected in the Great Lakes from 2012–2014. For each approach, we identified areas of high use for seven species/species groups and then compared the results across all methods and to mean effort‐corrected counts. Our results indicate that formal hotspot analysis frameworks do not always lead to the same conclusions. The kernel density and Getis‐Ord Gi* methods yielded the most similar results across all species analysed and were generally correlated with mean effort‐corrected count data. We found that these two models can differ substantially from the hotspot persistence and hotspots conditional on presence estimation approaches, which were not consistently similar to one another. The hotspot persistence approach differed most significantly from the other methods but is the only method to explicitly account for temporal variation. We recommend considering the ecological question and scale of conservation or management activities prior to designing survey methodologies. Deciding the appropriate definition and scale for analysis is critical for interpretation of hotspot analysis results as is inclusion of important covariates. Combining hotspot analysis methods using an integrative approach, either within a single analysis or post hoc, could lead to greater consistency in the identification of waterbird hotspots.

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“…Although the accuracy of geolocation is relatively low regardless of whether latitudes are light based or estimated using water temperatures (Phillips et al 2004;Teo et al 2004) and our data were limited to a single breeding colony, our analyses nevertheless show convincingly that the shifts in at-sea distribution of the tracked birds were related to seasonal and annual changes in the marine environment of the Pacific sub-Arctic and Arctic seas. Ship-based surveys may provide valuable quantitative data on at-sea distribution of seabirds at finer spatial scales (Gall et al 2013;Wong et al 2014), but do not allow individuals to be followed for long periods or reveal the dynamics of seabird movements beyond the areas surveyed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual and seasonal movements of migrating short-tailed shearwaters reflect environmental variation in sub-Arctic and Arctic waters

et al. 2014

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Hotspots in cold seas: The composition, distribution, and abundance of marine birds in the North American Arctic

Cited by 38 publications

References 46 publications

Abundance and species diversity hotspots of tracked marine predators across the North American Arctic

Abundance and species diversity hotspots of tracked marine predators across the North American Arctic

A comparative analysis of common methods to identify waterbird hotspots

Annual and seasonal movements of migrating short-tailed shearwaters reflect environmental variation in sub-Arctic and Arctic waters

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