Dear MARMAM readers,
My co-authors and myself are pleased to announce the publication
of our paper on the Mediterranean Monk seal vocal repertoire in
Endagered Species Research:
Charrier I,
Marchesseau S, Dendrinos P, Tounta E, Karamanlidis AA
Individual signatures in the vocal repertoire of the
endangered Mediterranean monk seal: new perspectives for
population monitoring.
ABSTRACT: The Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus is considered Endangered by
the IUCN, and is the most endangered pinniped in the world.
Increasing our knowledge of this species is crucial in order to
further our understanding of its social behaviour, but also to
develop new methods to monitor and protect it. In many species,
acoustic communication plays a major role in social interactions,
and vocal signals convey important information about the emitter;
understanding the diverse information encoded in vocalizations is
helpful in wildlife monitoring. In the present study, we used
passive, audio-video surveys to describe the aerial vocal repertoire
of the Mediterranean monk seal during the pupping season. An
exhaustive analysis was performed on the different call types, and
individual vocal signatures were investigated. A total of 5 call
types were identified: bark, chirp, grunt, short scream and scream,
with bark and scream being the 2 main call types. A discriminant
function analysis based on 10 acoustic variables revealed that all
call types except grunts can be correctly classified, with an
average rate of 86.7%. Furthermore, the individual vocal signature
investigated in barks and screams revealed that both call types are
individually specific, showing average correct classification rates
of 54.2 and 66.1% respectively. Based on these findings, future
research should focus on collecting new recordings from
well-identified seals to develop a new passive acoustic monitoring
system based on individual identification. This system will enable
the evaluation of annual pup production and thus provide essential
information on the conservation status of the Mediterranean monk
seal in Greece.
You can download the paper from:
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v32/p459-470/
A supplementary video can be seen at:
http://www.int-res.com/articles/suppl/n032p459_supp/
Best regards,
Isabelle Charrier
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Isabelle CHARRIER
Equipe Communications Acoustiques, Department Cognition & Behaviour
Institut des Neurosciences Paris Saclay (NeuroPSI), UMR 9197
Université Paris Sud, Bat.446, 91405 Orsay, FRANCE
Tel:(33-1).69.15.68.26 Fax:(33-1).69.15.77.26
Email: isabelle.charrier@u-psud.fr
Isabelle's website: http://www.cb.u-psud.fr/pinniped/
Bioacoustics Team website: http://www.cb.u-psud.fr
https://twitter.com/bioacteam
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