Dear MARMAN members,
My co-authors’ and I are happy to share with you our new paper “Identifying predictors of species diversity to guide designation of marine protected areas,” recently published in Conservation Science and Practice.
This study characterizes marine mammal species diversity on the U.S. east coast and examines environmental drivers for high marine mammal diversity.
We found diversity was highest in:
- The northern and mid-Atlantic regions with steep continental shelf edges
- Areas of high salinity and low temperatures
- Areas characterized with canyons
Abstract:
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a widely-used tool for conserving biodiversity. Features that support marine mammal foraging have been suggested as important components to include in MPAs,
but research is needed to understand the relationship between these features and diversity. For example, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument represents an area known to support marine mammal foraging and was designated to protect an
area of high marine mammal diversity. However, no comparisons have been made between marine mammal diversity in the Monument and other areas. We used 3,174,167 km of survey effort and 189,175 sightings to assess alpha and beta diversity in the Monument and
500 randomly selected sites along the east coast of the United States. We used linear models to relate diversity to variables that represent marine mammal foraging areas. Our analyses showed a gradient of higher to lower diversity from north to south and that
the shelf-edge, canyons, and areas of likely upwelling support high diversity. We also found that the Monument protects a diverse and unique marine mammal community. Our analyses contribute to efforts to designate MPAs to conserve habitat that is important
for protecting species by identifying drivers of biodiversity and potential sites for protecting 30% of the planet by 2030.
Open Access link to paper:
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.12665
Best,
Brooke Hodge
Brooke (Wikgren) Hodge | Associate Research Scientist/GIS Specialist | Spatial Ecology Mapping & Assessment Program | Anderson
Cabot Center for Ocean Life | New England Aquarium | Central Wharf Boston, MA 02110 |
bhodge@neaq.org |
http://www.andersoncabotcenterforoceanlife.org
