Hi friends and colleagues,

Our recent study was published this week in Plos One: Poor transferability of species distribution models for a pelagic predator, the grey petrel, indicates contrasting habitat preferences across ocean basins

Yes, the focal species is a seabird and not a marine mammal, but for anyone interested in developing or applying species distribution models (SDMs) to marine predators this paper is very relevant. We discuss the methods, capacity, and limitations of interpolating and extrapolating SDMs between spatial regions and populations.

The paper can be viewed/download here: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120014

Full reference:

Torres, L.G., Sutton, P.J.H., Thompson, D.R., Delord, K., Weimerskirch, H., Sagar, P.M., Sommer, E., Dilley, B.J., Ryan, P.G. &  Phillips, R.A. (2015). Poor transferability of species distribution models for a pelagic predator, the grey petrel, indicates contrasting habitat preferences across ocean basins. PLoS ONE 10, e0120014.

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120014

Cheers,

Leigh

Leigh Torres, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor; Oregon Sea Grant

Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Marine Mammal Institute

Oregon State University

Hatfield Marine Science Center

2030 SE Marine Science Drive

Newport, OR 97365, U.S.A

541-867-0895

http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/gemm-lab