April 2012 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

Curso/Course: Evaluacion Poblacional/Stock Assessment
by Carlos Alvarez 02 Apr '12

02 Apr '12

I'd appreciate posting the following announcement in the MARMAM list, thank you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For English see below -------------------------------- El Comité Organizador de la Reunion Bianual de la Sociedad Mexicana de Mastozoologia Marina los invita al curso "Métodos de evaluación poblacional aplicados a la conservación, manejo de vida silvestre y pesquerías", del 02 al 06 de mayo del 2012, en el Departamento de Estudios para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Zonas Costeras de la Universidad de Guadalajara, en San Patricio Melaque, Jalisco, Mexico. Pida informes a: Christian Ortega <christian_ortega(a)ucol.mx> Vea los detalles en: <http://www.somemma.org/somemma/XXXIIIReunion/doc/Curso EP.pdf> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Organizing Committee of the Biennial Meeting of the Mexican Society for Marine Mammalogy invites to the course: "Stock assessment methods applied to conservation, wildlife management and fisheries". The course will take place from the 2nd to the 6th of May at the Department of Studies for the Sustainable Development of Coastal Zones of the University of Guadalajara in San Patricio Melaque, Jalisco, Mexico. Contact Christian Ortega <christian_ortega(a)ucol.mx> Further details: <http://www.somemma.org/somemma/XXXIIIReunion/doc/Curso EP.pdf> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of message -- Dr. Carlos Alvarez Flores Okeanos - Oceanides Consorcio para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Marino Playa Alta 485. Col. Ver Mar Ensenada, B.C. México. C.P. 22860 Tel/Fax: +(646)175-2609 Email: carlosalvarezf(a)gmail.com calvarez(a)okeanos-oceanides.org

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new papers on ringed seal ecology
by Magaly Chambellant 02 Apr '12

02 Apr '12

I'm pleased to announce the publication of the following papers on ringed seal ecology: Temporal variations in Hudson Bay ringed seal (Phoca hispida) life-history parameters in relation to environmentMagaly Chambellant, Ian Stirling, William A. Gough, and Steven H. Ferguson We related temporal variation in the environment to demographic parameters and body condition of ringed seals (Phoca hispida) in Hudson Bay, near the southern limit of the species' geographic range. Ringed seals harvested by Inuit hunters for subsistence purposes in Arviat, Nunavut, Canada, from 1991 to 2006 were measured and sampled. Ringed seal ovulation rate did not change over time, but pregnancy rate and percent pups in the fall harvest increased in the 2000s, compared to the 1990s. Ringed seals grew faster and attained sexual maturity earlier in life, and the population age structure shifted to younger age classes in the 2000s compared to the 1990s. Ringed seal demographic parameters were characteristic of a population in decline in the 1990s and a growing population in the 2000s. A quadratic polynomial regression best described the relationship between percent pups in the harvest and snow depth, and between pup and adult female body condition index and date of spring breakup, suggesting that ringed seals have evolved to do best within a relatively limited range of environmental conditions. We propose that the decline of ringed seal reproductive parameters and pup survival in the 1990s could have been triggered by unusually cold winters and heavy ice conditions that prevailed in Hudson Bay in the early 1990s, through nutritional stress and increased predation pressure. The recovery in the 2000s may have been augmented by immigration of pups, juveniles, and young adult ringed seals into the study area. We discuss the possibility of a decadal-scale biological cycle that reflects fluctuations in climatic variables, and particularly in the sea ice regime. Journal of Mammalogy 93(1):267-281. 2012 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1644/10-MAMM-A-253.1 ---------- Temporal variation in distribution and density of ice-obligated seals in western Hudson Bay, Canada Magaly Chambellant, Nicholas J. Lunn and Steven H. Ferguson Recent unidirectional climatic trends and changes in top predator population ecology suggest that long-term modifications may be happening in Hudson Bay, Canada. Effects of such changes on ice-obligated seal populations are expected but long-term studies are required to differentiate climate-induced changes from natural variation. We conducted strip-transect surveys in late spring in 1995–1997, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 to estimate distribution, density and abundance of ice-obligated ringed (Phoca hispida) and bearded (Erignathus barbatus) seals in western Hudson Bay. When hauled out, ringed seals preferred land-fast and consolidated pack ice, whereas bearded seals preferred unconsolidated pack ice. Bearded and ringed seal density estimates varied from 0.0036 to 0.0229 seals/km2 of ice and from 0.46 to 1.60 seals/km2 of ice, respectively. Strong inter-annual variations were recorded in the abundance estimates of both species, with the largest abundance estimates in 1995 (104,162 and 1,494 ringed and bearded seals, respectively) and the lowest in 2008 for ringed seals (33,701) and 1997 for bearded seals (278). A sine function best described seal density estimates in western Hudson Bay and suggested a decadal cycle. Previous studies that reported low ringed seal demographic parameters in the 1990s and a recovery in the 2000s supported our interpretation of the survey results. We discuss our results in the context of climate warming and suggest that a long-term decline in ice-obligated seal density estimates may overlay a possible natural decadal cycle. Polar Biology DOI: 10.1007/s00300-012-1159-6 (online first)

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web site for marine vertebrate dive records
by Cecile Vincent 02 Apr '12

02 Apr '12

Dear all, After many months of development, the Penguiness Book 2 is now online at http://penguinessbook.scarmarbin.be/. This database compiles the diving performances of all air-breathing animals (reptiles, aquatic mammals, birds...) using published results from the scientific literature, ensuring that these data are the most reliable on the Net. We are still in the process of checking the database following the transfer from the old version (hosted in Japan) to the new one (now hosted in Belgium by SCAR-marBIN), so we apology if you spot any mistakes. We would be very happy if you could send us your feedback (e.g. if, for instance, the page does not display well on some browsers) or information/data/photos. We will try to keep the page as up-to-date as we can. Please feel free to advertise the page. Best Yan Ropert-Coudert et Akiko Kato + the development team

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New paper: First evidence marine protected areas can work for marine mammals
by Andrew Gormley 01 Apr '12

01 Apr '12

Hi all, The following paper has just been published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, and is free to download from the journal website (see link). Gormley, A.M., Slooten, E., Dawson, S., Barker, R.J., Rayment, W., du Fresne, S., Bräger, S. (2012) First evidence that marine protected areas can work for marine mammals. Journal of Applied Ecology 49: 474-480. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02121.x/abstract Summary 1. Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been advocated for the protection of threatened marine mammals, but there is no empirical evidence that they are effective. In 1988, the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary was established to reduce gillnet mortalities of Hector’s dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori, an endangered dolphin species endemic to New Zealand. This study assesses the effectiveness of the MPA in improving the survival rate of Hector’s dolphin at Banks Peninsula. 2. Over 21 years, we undertook photo-identification surveys of Hector’s dolphins along standardized transects from small outboard-powered boats. From 1986 to 2006, we photographically captured 462 reliably marked individuals. We estimated mean annual survival during the pre-sanctuary and post-sanctuary periods by applying a Bayesian random effects capture-recapture model to the data. Population growth was estimated from population simulations using a stage-structured matrix model. 3. We estimate a 90% probability that survival has improved between the pre-sanctuary and post-sanctuary periods, with estimates of mean survival probability increasing by 5.4% (from 0.863 to 0.917). This improvement in survival corresponds to a 6% increase in mean annual population growth (from 0.939 to 0.995). 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study demonstrates improvement in a demographic parameter of an endangered marine mammal species following conservation action. Our results provide evidence that area-based protection measures can be effective for marine mammals. We note that estimating demographic parameters in marine mammals requires many years of data to achieve sufficient precision to detect biologically meaningful change. MPAs should be established with a commitment to long-term monitoring. On behalf of the authors Andrew Gormley ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Andrew Gormley Quantitative Ecologist, Wildlife Ecology & Management Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua PO Box 40, Lincoln 7640, New Zealand ________________________________ Please consider the environment before printing this email Warning: This electronic message together with any attachments is confidential. If you receive it in error: (i) you must not read, use, disclose, copy or retain it; (ii) please contact the sender immediately by reply email and then delete the emails. The views expressed in this email may not be those of Landcare Research New Zealand Limited. http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz

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