Hi all,
I pleased to announce the publication of the following paper in
Marine Mammal Science on the impact of floods on dolphins inhabiting
estuaries in Australia.
Christine A. Fury and Peter L. Harrison.
Impact of flood events on dolphin occupancy patterns
Marine Mammal Science. Article first published online: 7 FEB 2011 |
DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00447.x
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00447.x/abstract
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to assess potential impacts of water quality changes
associated with floods on the occupancy of Indo-Pacific bottlenose
dolphins (Tursiops
aduncus) in two subtropical estuaries inAustralia.Boat-based
surveyswere conducted
in the Clarence River estuary (CR) and Richmond River estuaries (RR) over 3 yr.
Principal components analysis (PCA) showed that when the dolphins were absent
from the estuaries, three water quality components were extracted in the CR and
two components in the RR. The PCA1 component included high loadings for
salinity, turbidity, and pH for the CR (46%); and salinity, turbidity, pH, and
dissolved oxygen (DO) for theRR(51%). Randomization tests showed that dolphins
abandoned both estuaries at times of lower salinity, and during
periods of higher
turbidity and of lower levels of pH and dissolved oxygen in the RR that were
associated with floods. The time until dolphins returned to the
estuary postflood
depended on the length and severity of the flood, but generally dolphins were
observed in waters with salinity levels above 29. Their delayed
return postflood
could be for their physiological health, or because their prey
returned to the estuaries
under these higher salinity conditions, or more likely a combination
of both factors.
Pdf copies can be obtained from [email protected]
Note my new email address.
Regards
Christine Fury
Christine Fury, PhD
Marine Ecologist
Mobile 0408-264-330
Webpage: http://scu-au.academia.edu/ChristineFury/About
http://www.scu.edu.au/research/whales/index.php/30/
[email protected]
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