Habitat-based spatial models of cetacean density in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Abstract

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 16:113-133 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00393 Theme Section: Beyond marine mammal habitat modeling: applications for ecology and conservation Habitat-based spatial models of cetacean density in the eastern Pacific Ocean Karin A. Forney1,*, Megan C. Ferguson2,3, Elizabeth A. Becker1, Paul C. Fiedler3, Jessica V. Redfern3, Jay Barlow3, Ignacio L. Vilchis3, Lisa T. Ballance3 1Protected Resources Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Santa Cruz, California 95060, USA 2National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, Washington 98115, USA 3Protected Resources Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, La Jolla, California 92037, USA *Email karin.forney@noaa.gov ABSTRACT: Many users of the marine environment (e.g. military, seismic researchers, fisheries) conduct activities that can potentially harm cetaceans. In the USA, Environmental Assessments or Environmental Impact Statements evaluating potential impacts are required, and these must include information on the expected number of cetaceans in specific areas where activities will occur. Typically, however, such information is only available for broad geographic regions, e.g. the entire West Coast of the United States. We present species−habitat models that estimate finer scale cetacean densities within the eastern Pacific Ocean. The models were developed and validated for 22 species or species groups, based on 15 large-scale shipboard cetacean and ecosystem assessment surveys conducted in the temperate and tropical eastern Pacific during the period from 1986 to 2006. Model development included consideration of different modeling frameworks, spatial and temporal resolutions of input variables, and spatial interpolation techniques. For the final models, expected group encounter rate and group size were modeled separately, using generalized additive models, as functions of environmental predictors, including bathymetry, distance to shore or isobaths, sea surface temperature (SST), variance in SST, salinity, chlorophyll, and mixed-layer depth. Model selection was performed using cross-validation on novel data. Smoothed maps of species density (and variance therein) were created from the final models for the California Current Ecosystem and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Model results were integrated into a web-interface that allows end-users to estimate densities for specified areas and provides fine-scale information for marine mammal assessments, monitoring, and mitigation. KEY WORDS: Cetacean · Habitat · Spatial density model · Distribution · Pacific Ocean · Generalized additive model Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Forney KA, Ferguson MC, Becker EA, Fiedler PC and others (2012) Habitat-based spatial models of cetacean density in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Endang Species Res 16:113-133. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00393 Export citation Mail this link - Contents Mailing Lists - RSS Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 16, No. 2. Online publication date: February 29, 2012 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2012 Inter-Research.