Dear colleagues,
I am glad to inform you that following article was recently published in
Ecological Indicators:
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X13005153>
Peltier, H., P. D. Jepson, W. Dabin, R. Deaville, O. Van Canneyt, P.
Daniel, and V. Ridoux. (2014). THE CONTRIBUTION OF STRANDING DATA TO
MONITORING AND CONSERVATION STRATEGIES FOR CETACEANS: DEVELOPING
SPATIALLY EXPLICIT MORTALITY INDICATORS FOR COMMON DOLPHINS (DELPHINUS
DELPHIS) IN THE EASTERN NORTH-ATLANTIC. Ecological Indicators, 39, 203-214.
Abstract
Cetacean strandings are an important source of information on cetacean
population status and of biological samples. Nevertheless, collecting
stranding data remains opportunistic and their representativity must be
improved. The aim of this study was to improve the ecological
significance of strandings, through the determination of stranded common
dolphin origin found along the coasts of the Channel and the Bay of
Biscay, by using the drift prediction model MOTHY. In order to map
inferred distribution of dead dolphins, origin of strandings were
weighted by the probability that cetaceans dying at sea become stranded.
The difference between observed stranding origin and origin of expected
strandings under the hypothesis of spatial and temporal uniformity of
dead cetaceans, constituted the anomaly in stranding origin. Between
1990 and 2009, 6182 common dolphin strandings were reported by the UK
and French stranding networks. Distribution inferred from strandings
suggested that common dolphins died mostly in the neritic Bay of Biscay.
The anomaly in stranding origin was maximal in the southern Bay of
Biscay, highlighted as an area of high relative abundance or strong
mortality for common dolphin. The monthly decomposition of this anomaly
showed that positive anomaly was located in the southern Bay of Biscay
in winter and expanded northward over the whole Bay of Biscay and
western Channel in spring and summer. These results were consistent with
current knowledge on common dolphin distribution and provide new insight
on strandings as cetacean population indicators. These parameters are
essential components for assessing the conservation status of vulnerable
populations.
The pdf is available on request.
Please note too that recent article on stranding anomaly of harbor
porpoises published in Plos ONE was corrected.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0062180
Best wishes
Helene Peltier.
--
Hélène PELTIER -PhD
Observatoire PELAGIS UMS 3462
Université de La Rochelle-CNRS
5, allées de l'océan
17000 La Rochelle, France
[email protected]
+33 (0) 16 49 67 82 /+33 (0) 6 82 74 08 41
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