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Marques CS, Marques DA, Blackwell SB, Heide-Jørgensen MP, Malinka CE, Marques TA. Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) echolocation click rates to support cue counting passive acoustic density estimation. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2024; 155:891-900. [PMID: 38310606 DOI: 10.1121/10.0024723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024]
Abstract
Estimating animal abundance is fundamental for effective management and conservation. It is increasingly done by combining passive acoustics with knowledge about rates at which animals produce cues (cue rates). Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) are elusive marine mammals for which passive acoustic density estimation might be plausible, but for which cue rates are lacking. Clicking rates in narwhals were investigated using a dataset from sound and movement tag records collected in August 2013-2016 and 2019 in East Greenland. Clicking rates were quantified for ∼1200 one-second-long systematic random samples from 8 different whales. Generalized additive models were used to model (1) the probability of being in a clicking state versus depth and (2) the clicking rate while in a clicking state, versus time and depth. The probability of being in a clicking state increased with depth, reaching ∼1.0 at ∼500 m, while the number of clicks per second (while in a clicking state) increased with depth. The mean cue production rate, weighted by tag duration, was 1.28 clicks per second (se = 0.13, CV = 0.10). This first cue rate for narwhals may be used for cue counting density estimation, but care should be taken if applying it to other geographical areas or seasons, given sample size, geographical, and temporal limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina S Marques
- Centro de Estatística e Aplicações, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Diana A Marques
- Centro de Estatística e Aplicações, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Susanna B Blackwell
- Greeneridge Sciences, Incorporated, 5142 Hollister Avenue, 283, Santa Barbara, California 93111, USA
| | | | - Chloe E Malinka
- Sea Mammal Research Unit Consulting, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom
| | - Tiago A Marques
- Centro de Estatística e Aplicações, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
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Tervo OM, Blackwell SB, Ditlevsen S, Garde E, Hansen RG, Samson AL, Conrad AS, Heide-Jørgensen MP. Stuck in a corner: Anthropogenic noise threatens narwhals in their once pristine Arctic habitat. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eade0440. [PMID: 37494430 PMCID: PMC10371008 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade0440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Niche-conservative species are especially susceptible to changes in their environment, and detecting the negative effects of new stressors in their habitats is vital for safeguarding of these species. In the Arctic, human disturbance including marine traffic and exploration of resources is increasing rapidly due to climate change-induced reduction of sea ice. Here, we show that the narwhal, Monodon monoceros, is extremely sensitive to human-made noise. Narwhals avoided deep diving (> 350 m) with simultaneous reduction of foraging and increased shallow diving activity as a response to either ship sound alone or ship sound with concurrent seismic airgun pulses. Normal behavior decreased by 50 to 75% at distances where received sound levels were below background noise. Narwhals were equally responsive to both disturbance types, hence demonstrating their acute sensitivity to ship sound. This sensitivity coupled with their special behavioral-ecological strategy including a narrow ecological niche and high site fidelity makes them thus especially vulnerable to human impacts in the Arctic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Outi M. Tervo
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Strandgade 91,2, DK-1401 Copenhagen K, Denmark
| | - Susanna B. Blackwell
- Greeneridge Sciences Inc., Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Susanne Ditlevsen
- Data Science Laboratory, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Eva Garde
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Strandgade 91,2, DK-1401 Copenhagen K, Denmark
| | - Rikke G. Hansen
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Strandgade 91,2, DK-1401 Copenhagen K, Denmark
| | - Adeline L. Samson
- University Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble Institute of Engineering, LJK, 38000 Grenoble, France
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Shuert CR, Hussey NE, Marcoux M, Heide-Jørgensen MP, Dietz R, Auger-Méthé M. Divergent migration routes reveal contrasting energy-minimization strategies to deal with differing resource predictability. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2023; 11:31. [PMID: 37280701 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-023-00397-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Seasonal long-distance movements are a common feature in many taxa allowing animals to deal with seasonal habitats and life-history demands. Many species use different strategies to prioritize time- or energy-minimization, sometimes employing stop-over behaviours to offset the physiological burden of the directed movement associated with migratory behaviour. Migratory strategies are often limited by life-history and environmental constraints, but can also be modulated by the predictability of resources en route. While theory on population-wide strategies (e.g. energy-minimization) are well studied, there are increasing evidence for individual-level variation in movement patterns indicative of finer scale differences in migration strategies. METHODS We aimed to explore sources of individual variation in migration strategies for long-distance migrators using satellite telemetry location data from 41 narwhal spanning a 21-year period. Specifically, we aimed to determine and define the long-distance movement strategies adopted and how environmental variables may modulate these movements. Fine-scale movement behaviours were characterized using move-persistence models, where changes in move-persistence, highlighting autocorrelation in a movement trajectory, were evaluated against potential modulating environmental covariates. Areas of low move-persistence, indicative of area-restricted search-type behaviours, were deemed to indicate evidence of stop-overs along the migratory route. RESULTS Here, we demonstrate two divergent migratory tactics to maintain a similar overall energy-minimization strategy within a single population of narwhal. Narwhal migrating offshore exhibited more tortuous movement trajectories overall with no evidence of spatially-consistent stop-over locations across individuals. Nearshore migrating narwhal undertook more directed routes, contrasted by spatially-explicit stop-over behaviour in highly-productive fjord and canyon systems along the coast of Baffin Island for periods of several days to several weeks. CONCLUSIONS Within a single population, divergent migratory tactics can achieve a similar overall energy-minimizing strategy within a species as a response to differing trade-offs between predictable and unpredictable resources. Our methodological approach, which revealed the modulators of fine-scale migratory movements and predicted regional stop-over sites, is widely applicable to a variety of other aquatic and terrestrial species. Quantifying marine migration strategies will be key for adaptive conservation in the face of climate change and ever increasing human pressures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney R Shuert
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada.
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N6, Canada.
| | - Nigel E Hussey
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada
| | - Marianne Marcoux
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N6, Canada
| | | | - Rune Dietz
- Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Marie Auger-Méthé
- Institute for the Oceans & Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
- Department of Statistics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
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Nielsen LR, Tervo OM, Blackwell SB, Heide‐Jørgensen MP, Ditlevsen S. Using quantile regression and relative entropy to assess the period of anomalous behavior of marine mammals following tagging. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9967. [PMID: 37056694 PMCID: PMC10085821 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Tagging of animals induces a variable stress response which following release will obscure natural behavior. It is of scientific relevance to establish methods that assess recovery from such behavioral perturbation and generalize well to a broad range of animals, while maintaining model transparency. We propose two methods that allow for subdivision of animals based on covariates, and illustrate their use onN = 20 narwhals (Monodon monoceros) andN = 4 bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), captured and instrumented with Acousonde™ behavioral tags, but with a framework that easily generalizes to other marine animals and sampling units. The narwhals were divided into two groups based on handling time, short (t < 58 min) and long (t ≥ 58 min), to measure the effect on recovery. Proxies for energy expenditure (VeDBA) and rapid movement (jerk) were derived from accelerometer data. Diving profiles were characterized using two metrics (target depth and dive duration) derived from depth data. For accelerometer data, recovery was estimated using quantile regression (QR) on the log-transformed response, whereas depth data were addressed using relative entropy (RE) between hourly distributions of dive duration (partitioned into three target depth ranges) and the long-term average distribution. Quantile regression was used to address location-based behavior to accommodate distributional shifts anticipated in aquatic locomotion. For all narwhals, we found fast recovery in the tail of the distribution (<3 h) compared with a variable recovery at the median (∼1-10 h) and with a significant difference between groups separated by handling time. Estimates of bowhead whale recovery times showed fast median recovery (<3 h) and slow recovery at the tail (>6 h), but were affected by substantial uncertainty. For the diving profiles, as characterized by the component pair (target depth, dive duration), the recovery was slower (narwhals-long:t < 16 h; narwhals-short:t < 10 h; bowhead whales: <9 h) and with a difference between narwhals with short vs long handling times. Using simple statistical concepts, we have presented two transparent and general methods for analyzing high-resolution time series data from marine animals, addressing energy expenditure, activity, and diving behavior, and which allows for comparison between groups of animals based on well-defined covariates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars Reiter Nielsen
- Data Science LaboratoryDepartment of Mathematical SciencesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Outi M. Tervo
- Greenland Institute of Natural ResourcesNuukGreenland
- Greenland Institute of Natural ResourcesCopenhagenDenmark
| | | | - Mads Peter Heide‐Jørgensen
- Greenland Institute of Natural ResourcesNuukGreenland
- Greenland Institute of Natural ResourcesCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Susanne Ditlevsen
- Data Science LaboratoryDepartment of Mathematical SciencesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
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Decadal migration phenology of a long-lived Arctic icon keeps pace with climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2121092119. [PMID: 36279424 PMCID: PMC9659343 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2121092119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals migrate in response to seasonal environments, to reproduce, to benefit from resource pulses, or to avoid fluctuating hazards. Although climate change is predicted to modify migration, only a few studies to date have demonstrated phenological shifts in marine mammals. In the Arctic, marine mammals are considered among the most sensitive to ongoing climate change due to their narrow habitat preferences and long life spans. Longevity may prove an obstacle for species to evolutionarily respond. For species that exhibit high site fidelity and strong associations with migration routes, adjusting the timing of migration is one of the few recourses available to respond to a changing climate. Here, we demonstrate evidence of significant delays in the timing of narwhal autumn migrations with satellite tracking data spanning 21 y from the Canadian Arctic. Measures of migration phenology varied annually and were explained by sex and climate drivers associated with ice conditions, suggesting that narwhals are adopting strategic migration tactics. Male narwhals were found to lead the migration out of the summering areas, while females, potentially with dependent young, departed later. Narwhals are remaining longer in their summer areas at a rate of 10 d per decade, a similar rate to that observed for climate-driven sea ice loss across the region. The consequences of altered space use and timing have yet to be evaluated but will expose individuals to increasing natural changes and anthropogenic activities on the summering areas.
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Booth CG, Brannan N, Dunlop R, Friedlander A, Isojunno S, Miller P, Quick N, Southall B, Pirotta E. A sampling, exposure and receptor framework for identifying factors that modulate behavioural responses to disturbance in cetaceans. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:1948-1960. [PMID: 35895847 PMCID: PMC9804311 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
The assessment of behavioural disturbance in cetacean species (e.g. resulting from exposure to anthropogenic sources such as military sonar, seismic surveys, or pile driving) is important for effective conservation and management. Disturbance effects can be informed by Behavioural Response Studies (BRSs), involving either controlled exposure experiments (CEEs) where noise exposure conditions are presented deliberately to meet experimental objectives or in opportunistic contexts where ongoing activities are monitored in a strategic manner. In either context, animal-borne sensors or in situ observations can provide information on individual exposure and disturbance responses. The past 15 years of research have greatly expanded our understanding of behavioural responses to noise, including hundreds of experiments in nearly a dozen cetacean species. Many papers note limited sample sizes, required knowledge of baseline behaviour prior to exposure and the importance of contextual factors modulating behavioural responses, all of which in combination can lead to sampling biases, even for well-designed research programs. It is critical to understand these biases to robustly identify responses. This ensures outcomes of BRSs help inform predictions of how anthropogenic disturbance impacts individuals and populations. Our approach leverages concepts from the animal behaviour literature focused on helping to avoid sampling bias by considering what shapes an animal's response. These factors include social, experience, genetic and natural changes in responsiveness. We developed and applied a modified version of this framework to synthesise current knowledge on cetacean response in the context of effects observed across marine and terrestrial taxa. This new 'Sampling, Exposure, Receptor' framework (SERF) identifies 43 modulating factors, highlights potential biases, and assesses how these vary across selected focal species. In contrast to studies that identified variation in 'Exposure' factors as a key concern, our analysis indicated that factors relating to 'Sampling' (e.g. deploying tags on less evasive individuals, which biases selection of subjects), and 'Receptor' (e.g. health status or coping style) have the greatest potential for weakening the desired broad representativeness of BRSs. Our assessment also highlights how potential biases could be addressed with existing datasets or future developments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cormac G. Booth
- SMRU Consulting, Scottish Oceans InstituteUniversity of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUK
| | - Naomi Brannan
- Southeast Asia Marine Mammal ResearchHong KongHong Kong
| | - Rebecca Dunlop
- Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics LaboratoryMoreton Bay Research Station and School of Biological SciencesUniversity of QueenslandBrisbaneAustralia
| | - Ari Friedlander
- Southall Environmental Associates, Inc.AptosCaliforniaUSA,University of California, Institute of Marine ScienceSanta CruzCaliforniaUSA
| | - Saana Isojunno
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans InstituteUniversity of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUK
| | - Patrick Miller
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans InstituteUniversity of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUK
| | - Nicola Quick
- School of Biological and Marine SciencesUniversity of PlymouthPlymouthUK,Nicholas School of the EnvironmentDuke UniversityBeaufortNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Brandon Southall
- Southall Environmental Associates, Inc.AptosCaliforniaUSA,University of California, Institute of Marine ScienceSanta CruzCaliforniaUSA
| | - Enrico Pirotta
- Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental ModellingUniversity of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUK
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Hamilton CD, Lydersen C, Aars J, Acquarone M, Atwood T, Baylis A, Biuw M, Boltunov AN, Born EW, Boveng P, Brown TM, Cameron M, Citta J, Crawford J, Dietz R, Elias J, Ferguson SH, Fisk A, Folkow LP, Frost KJ, Glazov DM, Granquist SM, Gryba R, Harwood L, Haug T, Heide‐Jørgensen MP, Hussey NE, Kalinek J, Laidre KL, Litovka DI, London JM, Loseto LL, MacPhee S, Marcoux M, Matthews CJD, Nilssen K, Nordøy ES, O’Corry‐Crowe G, Øien N, Olsen MT, Quakenbush L, Rosing‐Asvid A, Semenova V, Shelden KEW, Shpak OV, Stenson G, Storrie L, Sveegaard S, Teilmann J, Ugarte F, Von Duyke AL, Watt C, Wiig Ø, Wilson RR, Yurkowski DJ, Kovacs KM. Marine mammal hotspots across the circumpolar Arctic. DIVERS DISTRIB 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
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