Dear colleagues, Tilen Genov and I published a chapter on Mediterranean common dolphins for Elsevier's upcoming "Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation":
Bearzi G., Genov T. 2021. Imperiled common dolphins of the Mediterranean Sea. In D. DellaSala, M. Goldstein and M.J. Costello (eds.) Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation. Elsevier, Amsterdam. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128211397000593 ABSTRACT -- The Mediterranean Sea is one of the world's seas most affected by human activities. In this region, concern for the conservation status of the common dolphin *Delphinus delphis* has been expressed since the 1990s. Systematic culling campaigns and intentional takes represented a major cause of mortality between the 1870s and the 1970s. These killings slowed down or largely ceased in the 1970s, but other negative human impacts have increased dramatically since then. Ongoing depletion of key prey caused by overfishing, as well as food-web competition with fisheries, have been identified as important threats in recent decades. Factors that likely contributed to making common dolphins increasingly less common also include incidental mortality in fishing gear, habitat degradation, and the effects of chemical pollutants, underwater noise, and climate change. These impacts may have increased demographic fragmentation, resulting in low density or scattered occurrence acro! ss most of the basin, small group sizes, and occasional admixture with striped dolphins *Stenella coeruleoalba*. Formal commitments to protect Mediterranean common dolphins have been made repeatedly in national and international fora, but conservation action has remained largely on paper. Pdf available upon request to <giovanni.bea...@gmail.com> Cheers, giovanni - - - - - - - Giovanni Bearzi <http://www.dolphinbiology.org/people/giovanni_bearzi.htm> _______________________________________________ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
