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Influence of environmental factors on small cetacean distribution in the Spanish Mediterranean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2008

A. Gómez de Segura ,
P.S. Hammond  and
J.A. Raga
A. Gómez de Segura*
Affiliation:
Unidad de Zoología Marina, Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Universidad de Valencia, PO Box 22085, E-46071, Valencia, Spain
P.S. Hammond
Affiliation:
Sea Mammal Research Unit, Gatty Marine Laboratory, St Andrews, University of St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, Scotland, UK
J.A. Raga
Affiliation:
Unidad de Zoología Marina, Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Universidad de Valencia, PO Box 22085, E-46071, Valencia, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A. Gómez de Segura, Unidad de Zoología Marina, Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Universidad de Valencia, PO BOX 22085, E-46071, Valencia, Spain email: amaia.gomez@uv.es
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Abstract

Habitat distribution models are one of the most up to date methods to study the habitat usage of wildlife populations. They allow animal distribution to be related to environmental features and also the prediction of the distribution of animals based on this relationship. Seasonal aerial surveys were conducted in central Spanish Mediterranean waters from June 2000 to March 2003 to obtain information on the distribution of cetacean species. Data from the three most common cetacean species (striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba, bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, and Risso's dolphin, Grampus griseus) were related, using generalized linear models, to local environmental features: depth, slope, sea surface temperature and chlorophyll concentration. For bottlenose dolphins, no significant relationship was found with any covariate and no dolphins were observed in waters greater than 1000 m. The distribution of both striped and Risso's dolphin was significantly related to depth. The striped dolphin showed a preference for waters between 900 and 1500 m deep and Risso's dolphin for waters more than 1500 m deep. In addition, for the latest two species, maps of distribution were predicted by means of the spatial models. The areas of higher probabilities of occurrence coincide to a large extent with the marine protected areas previously proposed for the conservation of oceanic cetacean species.

Keywords

striped dolphinbottlenose dolphinRisso's dolphindistributionenvironmental factorsgeneralized linear modelsMPAs
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Special Issue 6: Marine Mammals , September 2008 , pp. 1185 - 1192
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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