Dear Marmam members,
we are pleased to draw your attention to a paper that just come out in
Marine Environment Research about abundance of common bottlenose dolphin
(/Tursiops truncatus/)
Lauriano, G., Pierantonio, N., Donovan, G., Panigada, S.,
Abundance and distribution of Tursiops truncatus in the Western
Mediterranean Sea: an assessment towards the Marine Strategy Framework
Directive requirements, Marine Environmental Research (2014), doi:
10.1016/j.marenvres.2014.04.0
Abstract
The Mediterranean Sea common bottlenose dolphin population has been
assessed as /Vulnerable/ according to the IUCN Red List Criteria. The
species is also included in several International Agreements, European
Union Regulations and Directives. Amongst them, a strict protection and
identification of special conservation areas are requested by the EU
Habitats Directive. Despite direct takes, by-catch, chemical and
acoustic pollution, and prey depletion, general habitat degradation and
fragmentation have been indicated as detrimental for the species, the
degree to which these threats pose population risk is still largely
unknown. At present it is thus not possible to depict the actual status
of the population and to assess prospective trends. To address this gap
in the current knowledge, line transect distance sampling aerial surveys
were conducted in a wide portion of the Western Mediterranean Sea
between the summer of 2010 and winter 2011. A total of 165 parallel
transects equally spaced at 15 km were designed providing homogeneous
coverage probability. Overall, 21,090 km were flown on effort and 16
bottlenose dolphin sightings were recorded and used for the analysis.
The surface abundance and density estimates resulted in 1676 animals
(CV = 38.25; 95% CI = 804--3492) with a density of 0.005 (CV = 38.25%).
These results represent the first ever estimates for the common
bottlenose dolphin over a wide portion of the Western Mediterranean Sea
Subregion, with the potential to be useful baseline data to inform
conservation. Specifically, they could be used as indicators under the
Marine Strategy Framework Directive requirements, in conjunction with
other study methods.
Paper is available on line at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141113614000737
Regards,
Giancarlo Lauriano and coauthors
--
Giancarlo Lauriano
Istituto Superiore per la
Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale
Via V. Brancati 60, 00144 Roma
06500724762
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