Putting prey into the picture: improvements to species distribution models for bottlenose dolphins in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand

Bennington, Steph; Rayment, William; Dawson, Stephen M.

doi:10.3354/meps13492

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Gray, 2000) and monitoring of prey species for Hector’s dolphins (e.g. Willis & Babcock, 2000; Bennington, Rayment & Dawson, 2020) near anchorages and suitable ‘control’ sites, and high‐resolution seabed mapping (e.g. Calder & Mayer, 2003) to assess damage to and recovery of the seafloor environment over time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is clear that prey availability plays a major role in the spatial distribution of Hector's dolphins at Te P ataka o R akaihaut u (Brough et al, 2019a;Brough et al, 2020). Fine-scale species distribution modelling (Rodríguez et al, 2007), incorporating prey dynamics (Bennington, Rayment & Dawson, 2020), could be used to assess trophic health harbour-wide and further elucidate what is driving dolphin distribution at present.…”

Section: Potential Drivers Of Changing Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A long‐term shift in the summer distribution of Hector’s dolphins is correlated with an increase in cruise ship tourism

Carome

Slooten

Rayment

et al. 2022

Aquatic Conservation

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Before the 2020 COVID‐19 pandemic, cruise ship tourism had been one of the fastest growing segments of global tourism, presenting a range of potential impacts. At Akaroa Harbour, Aotearoa New Zealand, the number of annual cruise ship visits more than quadrupled following earthquake damage to Ōtautahi Christchurch's Lyttelton Port in 2011. Akaroa Harbour is an area of core use for endangered and endemic Hector’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori). Dolphins here are exposed to some of the highest levels of cetacean tourism in Aotearoa New Zealand. Relationships were examined between growth in cruise ship visits, as well as tours focused specifically on dolphins, and long‐term trends in summer distribution of Hector’s dolphins at Akaroa Harbour, from 2000 to 2020. Core use areas for Hector’s dolphins within the harbour were quantified via kernel density estimation using data from 2,335 sightings from over 8,000 km of standardized survey effort. Data were allocated into four periods based on varying levels of tourism. Dolphin habitat preference varied over time, with the greatest change occurring between 2005–2011 and 2012–2015. When comparing these periods, the spatial overlap of core habitat was less than 24%. Dolphin distribution shifted towards the outer harbour after 2011 and has remained relatively consistent since. The observed shift in distribution coincided with the more than fourfold increase in annual cruise ship visits to Akaroa Harbour. Several pressures related to cruise ship tourism are likely to have influenced habitat preferences of dolphins. Further investigation into causal factors of the observed shift is warranted. In the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic, the future of cruise ship and wildlife tourism is in flux. Our findings suggest that the future re‐development of this industry should follow a precautionary approach, with the onus on industry to provide evidence of sustainability before proceeding.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Potential Drivers Of Changing Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A long‐term shift in the summer distribution of Hector’s dolphins is correlated with an increase in cruise ship tourism

Carome

Slooten

Rayment

et al. 2022

Aquatic Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The species range poleward of 45°i n northern Europe and southern New Zealand, but it has been reported as far south as 53-55°S in South America and as far north as British Columbia (50°N) (Wells et al, 2019). Different elements seem to drive its distribution in space and time and habitat use, being under the influence of environmental [e.g., sea surface temperature (SST) and bathymetry], ecological [e.g., prey distribution], social [e.g., inter-and intraspecific interactions/ relationships] and anthropogenic variables [e.g., fishing activities and boat traffic] (e.g., see Bennington et al, 2020;Diaz Lopez, 2019;Greller et al, 2021;Haughey et al, 2021;Zanardo et al, 2017 and references herein). Considering their widespread distribution and prominent presence in the coastal marine ecosystems, common bottlenose dolphins could have a significant role in the structure and function of these ecosystems (Diaz Lopez, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal distribution of an opportunistic apex predator (Tursiops truncatus) in marine coastal habitats of the Western Mediterranean Sea

et al. 2022

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Assessing the distribution of marine apex-predators is pivotal to understanding community interactions and defining management goals. However, several challenges arise in both estimates and predictions considering the distinctive and mutable biological/ecological requirements of these species and the influence of human activities. Thus, efforts to study apex-predators' spatial distribution patterns must deal with inherent uncertainty. Relying on different data sources (research programs and social media reports), physiographic and environmental covariates (depth, slope, surface temperature and chlorophylla), and specific source-related detection functions, this study selected a Spatial Log-Gaussian Cox Process to model the distribution patterns of an opportunistic apex-predator, the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), over 14 years (2008−2021) in the Mediterranean Sea (Italy) using a total of 955 encounters. Both depth and slope showed a significant (95% significance) reduction effect in the encounters when deeper and steeper, respectively. Temperature (parabolic) shows a positive effect (90% significance), while chlorophyll-a values did not seem to have a significant effect on encounter intensities within each season. The estimated posterior mean and the coefficient of variation surfaces for the intensity by season showed higher intensity in summer near the Tiber River estuary than other regions. Almost homogeneous predictions were observed in winter, with marginal greater intensities where lower temperatures and higher chlorophyll-a concentration were observed. The relatively low variance was predicted in the more coastal parts of the study area within each season, while higher uncertainty was instead revealed in the southernmost offshore area. This study highlighted the persistent presence of the common bottlenose dolphin in the investigated area both winter and summer, with a coherent distribution Frontiers in Marine Science frontiersin.org 01

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“…Recent work has shown the importance of prey distribution in driving habitat use by marine predators and the potential for information on the relative abundance and diversity of fish to improve model performance (Bennington et al, 2020). However, the great majority of studies investigating seabirds use of tidal stream environments focus entirely on associations between behavior/occupancy and physical conditions, notably hydrodynamic and seabed characteristics (Benjamins et al, 2015;Isaksson et al, 2020), despite the usefulness of understanding physics-prey-predator interactions in risk assessment (Scott et al, 2014).…”

Section: Physics-predator-prey Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practical Approaches for Providing Empirical Data on Seabird Behavior and Prey Assemblages in Tidal Channels

Fraser¹,

Waggitt

2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Persisting knowledge gaps relating to the ecological context and potential environmental impacts of marine renewable energy (MRE) devices continue to add substantial costs and uncertainty to MRE projects globally. Increasingly sophisticated technological approaches to environmental monitoring can have fundamental non-trivial shortcomings for environmental impact assessment (EIA), whilst substantial practical and financial costs of deployments can prevent their application. For the tidal stream energy (TSE) sector, there is a need for practical and cost-effective methods that can provide site-specific information on predator behavior and associated prey assemblages. Considering existing knowledge of animal communities in tidal channel environments, a proportional approach using shore-based observation and baited fish trap methods was developed. During April 2021, a trial of these methods was conducted in tidal channel environments in Shetland, UK. The practical application of the proposed approach is demonstrated here with results from three tidal channels including Bluemull Sound, the site of active TSE installations (the Shetland Tidal Array). Observation of predator behavior across the study sites are reported for great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo and European shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis. Seabird diving data calculated from the shore-based observations provided metrics relevant to informing EIA and collision risk modelling including dive duration, dives per minute, and % time underwater. Fish trap deployments targeted the benthic and demersal prey of these predators in the three study sites and across a range of depths and hydrodynamic conditions. A variety of fish and invertebrate species known to be important components of benthic-foraging seabird diet were successfully captured by the traps, providing basic biological information on the prey assemblages observed in each site. The fish species observed in the highest abundance were saithe Pollachius virens and cod Gadus morhua. Benefits, limitations, and applications of this approach are discussed along with various factors relating to the performance of both methods. The shore-based observations rapidly identified relevant patterns in predator foraging activity which informed the targeted deployment of fish traps to provide complementary prey data. This novel combined approach has potential to reduce costs and uncertainty in EIA and for supporting the responsible development of the MRE industry.

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Putting prey into the picture: improvements to species distribution models for bottlenose dolphins in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand

Cited by 11 publications

References 70 publications

A long‐term shift in the summer distribution of Hector’s dolphins is correlated with an increase in cruise ship tourism

A long‐term shift in the summer distribution of Hector’s dolphins is correlated with an increase in cruise ship tourism

Seasonal distribution of an opportunistic apex predator (Tursiops truncatus) in marine coastal habitats of the Western Mediterranean Sea

Practical Approaches for Providing Empirical Data on Seabird Behavior and Prey Assemblages in Tidal Channels

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