Dear Marman community,
We are happy to share our latest publication:
A. Grundlehner,V. Andrews-Goff,M.C. Double,J.N. Smith,M.J. Brasier,K.A.
Cresswell, & S.P. Corney,
Spatial reorganization during post-collapse population growth suggests
conspecific attraction in baleen whale nursing grounds, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
U.S.A. 123 (44) e2602745123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2602745123 (2026).
Abstract:
Habitat use is strongly interlinked with population dynamics and plays an
important role in population regulation. Animals frequently modify their
habitat use behavior in response to major changes in population density. This
is well studied in contexts wherein resources are limiting: for example, when
changes in habitat use behavior reduce pressure from resource limitations.
Situations wherein resource limitations are relaxed, such as upon recovery from
severe declines, remain poorly studied. Here, we study how the spatial
distribution of a nearly extirpated animal population changed during population
recovery. We study a population of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis),
a migratory species that was nearly extirpated by whaling. Using large-scale
annual aerial survey data (1976-2023), we assess how spatial distribution
patterns at nursing grounds changed as annual coastal abundances grew from few
individuals to a few hundred. This includes assessment of the species'
characteristic site fidelity at a uniquely large spatiotemporal scale. We
observed weaker fidelity to specific sites than generally assumed for
Australian southern right whales and found strong indications that conspecific
attraction influences the species' coastal habitat selection. Distribution
patterns initially displayed strong dispersal but became increasingly clustered
coincident with substantial growth in annual whale abundances. This transition
captures a rare example of a population crossing a behavioral threshold,
possibly reflecting a switch in behavioral strategy or lack of conspecific
cues. Our findings suggest that the behavioral processes governing habitat
selection can shift with population density, driving substantial reorganization
of populations' spatial structure during substantial demographic change.
You can read the paper here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2602745123
Assoc Prof Stuart Corney (he/him)
Associate Dean Learning and Teaching Performance - Sciences and Engineering
Academic Division
University of Tasmania
Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia
+61 437 159 399 | ORC-ID: 0000-0002-8293-0863
The measure of this world is all the things not made by man
- Richard Flanagan
I acknowledge and pay my respect to the traditional custodians of the lands
upon which our campuses are built.
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