Seasonal and Diurnal Patterns of Behavior Exhibited by Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins (<i>Tursiops truncatus</i>) in the Mississippi Sound

Miller, Lance J.; Solangi, Moby; Kuczaj, Stan A.

doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01824.x

Cited by 30 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In addition to potentially being important foraging areas for dolphins, locations with a very high LoDO could also be an important area for mating and calving. Spring is the dominant calving season in the MS Sound (Hubard et al , ; Pitchford et al , ) and is the time of year when the greatest amount of social activity occurs among dolphins in the region (Miller et al , ). More work should be done to more clearly delineate hotspots for calving as protecting these areas is very important for ensuring sustainability of dolphins in this region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A distinct area of high and very high LoDO near the mouth of the Pearl River suggests that dolphins may be feeding on hydrographic fronts in this area. Dolphins have been shown to feed more often during the autumn in the MS Sound, potentially to build up fat stores for the coming winter months when prey is scarce (Miller et al , ). While little is known about prey availability in this area, the anomalous spatial distribution of dolphins relative to winter, spring, and summer suggests that environmental conditions and potentially prey availability favours habitation of the western MS Sound during this time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predictive spatial modelling of seasonal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) distributions in the Mississippi Sound

Pitchford

Howard

Shelley

et al. 2015

Aquatic Conservation

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Spatial distribution models (SDMs) have been useful for improving management of species of concern in many areas. This study was designed to model the spatial distribution of bottlenose dolphins among seasons of the year in the Mississippi Sound within the northern Gulf of Mexico. Models were constructed by integrating presence locations of dolphins acquired from line‐transect sampling from 2011–2013 with maps of environmental conditions for the region to generate a likelihood of dolphin occurrence for winter (January–March), spring (April–June), summer (July–September), and autumn (October–December) using maximum entropy. Models were successfully generated using the program MaxEnt and had high predictive capacity for all seasons (AUC (area under curve) > 0.8). Distinct seasonal shifts in spatial distribution were evident including increased predicted occurrence in deepwater habitats during the winter, limited predicted occurrence in the western Mississippi Sound in winter and spring, widespread predicted occurrence over the entire region during summer, and a distinct westward shift of predicted occurrence in autumn. The most important environmental predictors used in SDMs were distance to shore, salinity, and nitrates, but variable importance differed considerably among seasons. Geographic shifts in predicted occurrence probably reflect both direct effects of changing environmental conditions and subsequent changes in prey availability and foraging efficiency. Overall, seasonal models helped to identify preferred habitats for dolphins among seasons of the year and can be used to inform management of this protected species in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictive spatial modelling of seasonal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) distributions in the Mississippi Sound

Pitchford

Howard

Shelley

et al. 2015

Aquatic Conservation

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“…Bottlenose dolphin activity time budgets shift with the season (constant s t ) (Grellier & Wilson ; Hastie et al . ; Miller, Solangi & Kuczaj ), so their motivations must also be affected by season, because they drive activity choice. Therefore, we have,

m_{i, t} = m_{i, t - 1} + {Aa}_{t - 1} - δ s_{t},

…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the biological significance of behavioural change in coastal bottlenose dolphins in response to disturbance

et al. 2013

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Summary 1.Behavioural change in response to anthropogenic activities is often assumed to indicate a biologically significant effect on a population of concern. Disturbances can affect individual health through lost foraging time or other behaviours, which will impact vital rates and thus the population dynamics. However, individuals may be able to compensate for the observed shifts in behaviour, leaving their health and thus their vital rates and population dynamics, unchanged. 2. We developed a mathematical model simulating the complex social, spatial, behavioural and motivational interactions of coastal bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Moray Firth, Scotland, to assess the biological significance of increased rate of behavioural disruptions caused by vessel traffic. 3. We explored a scenario in which vessel traffic increased from 70 to 470 vessels a year in response to the construction of a proposed offshore renewables' facility. Despite the more than sixfold increase in vessel traffic, the dolphins' behavioural time budget, spatial distribution, motivations and social structure remain unchanged. 4. We found that the dolphins are able to compensate for their immediate behavioural response to disturbances by commercial vessels. If the increased commercial vessel traffic is the only escalation in anthropogenic activity, then the dolphins' response to disturbance is not biologically significant, because the dolphins' health is unaffected, leaving the vital rates and population dynamics unchanged. 5. Our results highlight that behavioural change should not automatically be correlated with biological significance when assessing the conservation and management needs of species of interest. This strengthens the argument to use population dynamics targets to manage human activities likely to disturb wildlife.

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“…This contextualization is better understood for some cetacean species such as the bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) (ACEVEDO-GUTIERREZ 1999, LUSSEAU 2006, MILLER et al 2010. However, for "data deficient" species, such as the Guiana dolphin, Sotalia guianensis (Van Benédén, 1864) (IUCN 2013) there are no available data.…”

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Behavioral event occurrence differs between behavioral states in Sotalia guianensis (Cetarctiodactyla: Delphinidae) dolphins: a multivariate approach

Tardin¹,

Pinto²,

Alves³

et al. 2014

Zoologia (Curitiba)

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Seasonal and Diurnal Patterns of Behavior Exhibited by Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Mississippi Sound

Cited by 30 publications

References 17 publications

Predictive spatial modelling of seasonal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) distributions in the Mississippi Sound

Predictive spatial modelling of seasonal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) distributions in the Mississippi Sound

Modelling the biological significance of behavioural change in coastal bottlenose dolphins in response to disturbance

Behavioral event occurrence differs between behavioral states in Sotalia guianensis (Cetarctiodactyla: Delphinidae) dolphins: a multivariate approach

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