Sympatric Seals, Satellite Tracking and Protected Areas: Habitat-Based Distribution Estimates for Conservation and Management
Sympatric Seals, Satellite Tracking and Protected Areas: Habitat-Based Distribution Estimates for Conservation and Management
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DOI：
10.3389/fmars.2022.875869
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发表时间：
2022-06-20
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Russell, Debbie J. F.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Carter, Matt I. D.;Boehme, Lars;Russell, Debbie J. F.
海洋捕食者种群对生态系统的结构和功能至关重要。像许多食肉动物类群一样，鳍足类面临着越来越复杂的自然和人为威胁。要了解海上过程与陆基监测点丰度趋势之间的关系，就需要对海上分布情况进行可靠的估计，而且往往是在多区域范围内进行估计。这种理解对于有效的养护管理至关重要，但估计数往往在空间范围上受到动物传播的跟踪数据的空间覆盖范围的限制。灰海豹（Halichoerus grypus）和斑海豹（Phoca vitulina）是北大西洋陆架海域的同域捕食者。英国和爱尔兰是这两个物种的重要种群中心，并指定了特别保护区（SAC）进行监测和保护。在这里，我们使用了一个广泛的高分辨率GPS跟踪数据集，其大小（114只灰海豹和239只港海豹）和空间覆盖范围都是前所未有的，来模拟栖息地偏好并生成整个英国和爱尔兰的海上分布估计这两个物种的种群。我们发现这两个物种分布的环境驱动因素存在区域差异，这可能与饮食和人口趋势的区域变化有关。此外，我们提供了SAC特定的估计在海上分布用于海洋空间规划，表明热点在英国和爱尔兰范围内的地图在海上密度不能总是分配到最近的SAC。我们发现，对于灰海豹，殖民资本繁殖者，有一个不匹配的SAC（影响很可能被检测到）和影响最有可能发生的地区（在海上）。我们强调迫切需要进一步研究，以阐明觅食季节的海上分布和在SAC中观察到的人口趋势之间的联系。更一般地说，我们强调，这种断开的潜力需要考虑时，指定和管理保护区，特别是对物种的聚合繁殖和表现出部分迁移（如灰海豹），或迁移策略的空间变化。我们展示了使用战略跟踪工作来预测多个地区的分布，但警告说，这样的努力应该注意到，尽管相似的可访问的栖息地的物种-环境关系的差异的潜力。
Marine predator populations are crucial to the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Like many predator taxa, pinnipeds face an increasingly complex array of natural and anthropogenic threats. Understanding the relationship between at-sea processes and trends in abundance at land-based monitoring sites requires robust estimates of at-sea distribution, often on multi-region scales. Such an understanding is critical for effective conservation management, but estimates are often limited in spatial extent by spatial coverage of animal-borne tracking data. Grey (Halichoerus grypus) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) are sympatric predators in North Atlantic shelf seas. The United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland represents an important population centre for both species, and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are designated for their monitoring and protection. Here we use an extensive high-resolution GPS tracking dataset, unprecedented in both size (114 grey and 239 harbour seals) and spatial coverage, to model habitat preference and generate at-sea distribution estimates for the entire UK and Ireland populations of both species. We found regional differences in environmental drivers of distribution for both species which likely relate to regional variation in diet and population trends. Moreover, we provide SAC-specific estimates of at-sea distribution for use in marine spatial planning, demonstrating that hotspots of at-sea density in UK and Ireland-wide maps cannot always be apportioned to the nearest SAC. We show that for grey seals, colonial capital breeders, there is a mismatch between SACs (where impacts are likely to be detected) and areas where impacts are most likely to occur (at sea). We highlight an urgent need for further research to elucidate the links between at-sea distribution during the foraging season and population trends observed in SACs. More generally, we highlight that the potential for such a disconnect needs to be considered when designating and managing protected sites, particularly for species that aggregate to breed and exhibit partial migration (e.g. grey seals), or spatial variation in migration strategies. We demonstrate the use of strategic tracking efforts to predict distribution across multiple regions, but caution that such efforts should be mindful of the potential for differences in species-environment relationships despite similar accessible habitats.