Dear MARMAM readers,
My co-authors and myself are pleased to announce the publication of our
paper on the Mediterranean Monk seal vocal repertoire in Endagered
Species Research:
*Charrier I, Marchesseau S, Dendrinos P, Tounta E, Karamanlidis AA
Individual signatures in the vocal repertoire of the endangered
Mediterranean monk seal: new perspectives for population monitoring.*
ABSTRACT: The Mediterranean monk seal/Monachus monachus/is considered
Endangered by the IUCN, and is the most endangered pinniped in the
world. Increasing our knowledge of this species is crucial in order to
further our understanding of its social behaviour, but also to develop
new methods to monitor and protect it. In many species, acoustic
communication plays a major role in social interactions, and vocal
signals convey important information about the emitter; understanding
the diverse information encoded in vocalizations is helpful in wildlife
monitoring. In the present study, we used passive, audio-video surveys
to describe the aerial vocal repertoire of the Mediterranean monk seal
during the pupping season. An exhaustive analysis was performed on the
different call types, and individual vocal signatures were investigated.
A total of 5 call types were identified: bark, chirp, grunt, short
scream and scream, with bark and scream being the 2 main call types. A
discriminant function analysis based on 10 acoustic variables revealed
that all call types except grunts can be correctly classified, with an
average rate of 86.7%. Furthermore, the individual vocal signature
investigated in barks and screams revealed that both call types are
individually specific, showing average correct classification rates of
54.2 and 66.1% respectively. Based on these findings, future research
should focus on collecting new recordings from well-identified seals to
develop a new passive acoustic monitoring system based on individual
identification. This system will enable the evaluation of annual pup
production and thus provide essential information on the conservation
status of the Mediterranean monk seal in Greece.
You can download the paper from:
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v32/p459-470/
A supplementary video can be seen at:
http://www.int-res.com/articles/suppl/n032p459_supp/
Best regards,
Isabelle Charrier
--
************************************************************************
Isabelle CHARRIER
Equipe Communications Acoustiques, Department Cognition & Behaviour
Institut des Neurosciences Paris Saclay (NeuroPSI), UMR 9197
Université Paris Sud, Bat.446, 91405 Orsay, FRANCE
Tel:(33-1).69.15.68.26 Fax:(33-1).69.15.77.26
Email: isabelle.charr...@u-psud.fr
Isabelle's website: http://www.cb.u-psud.fr/pinniped/
Bioacoustics Team website: http://www.cb.u-psud.fr
https://twitter.com/bioacteam
************************************************************************
_______________________________________________
MARMAM mailing list
MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca
https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
