Habitat preferences of baleen whales in a mid-latitude habitat
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/9153As published
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.07.015Abstract
Understanding the dynamics of baleen whale distribution is essential to predict how
environmental changes can affect their ecology and, in turn, ecosystem functioning.
Recent work showed that mid-latitude habitats along migratory routes may play an
important role on the feeding ecology of baleen whales. This study aimed to investigate
the function of a mid-latitude habitat for blue (Balaenoptera musculus), fin (B.
physalus) and sei (B. borealis) whales occurring in sympatry during spring and summer
months and to what extent their environmental niches overlap. We addressed those
questions by developing environmental niche models (ENM) for each species and then
making pairwise comparisons of niche overlap and relative habitat patch importance
among the three species. ENMs were created using sightings from the Azorean
Fisheries Observer Program from May to November, between 2004 and 2009, and a set
of 18 predictor environmental variables. We then assessed monthly (April-July) overlap among ENMs using a modified Hellinger’s distance metric (I). Results show that the
habitat niches of blue and fin whales are strongly influenced by primary productivity
and sea surface temperature and are highly dynamic both spatially and temporally due
to the oceanography of the region. Niche overlap analyses show that blue and fin whale
environmental niches are similar and that the suitable habitats for the two species have
high degree of spatial coincidence. These results in combination suggest that this habitat
may function as a mid-latitude feeding ground to both species while conditions are
adequate. The sei whale model, on the other hand, did not include variables considered
to be proxies for prey distribution and little environmental niche overlap was found
between this species and the other two. We argue that these results suggest that the
region holds little importance as a foraging habitat for the sei whale.
Description
© The Author(s), 2016. This is the author's version of the work and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 141 (2017): 155-167, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.07.015.
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Suggested Citation
Preprint: Prieto, Rui, Tobeña Morcillo, Marta, Silva, Monica A., "Habitat preferences of baleen whales in a mid-latitude habitat", 2016-08, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.07.015, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/9153The following license files are associated with this item:
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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