Dear
MARMAM community,
We are
pleased to announce the publication of the following article in
Global Change Biology:
Derville, S., Torres, L.G., Albertson, R., Andrews, O., Baker, C.S., Carzon, P., Constantine, R., Donoghue, M., Dutheil, C., Gannier, A., Oremus, M., Poole, M.M., Robbins, J. & Garrigue, C. (2019) Whales in warming water : Assessing breeding habitat diversity and adaptability in Oceania ’ s changing climate. Global Change Biology, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14563
Abstract
In the context of a changing climate, understanding the
environmental drivers of marine megafauna distribution is
important for conservation success. The extent of humpback whale
breeding habitats and the impact of temperature variation on
their availability are both unknown. We used 19 years of
dedicated survey data from seven countries and territories of
Oceania (1,376 survey days), to investigate humpback whale
breeding habitat diversity and adaptability to climate change.
At a fine scale (1 km resolution), seabed topography was
identified as an important influence on humpback whale
distribution. The shallowest waters close to shore or in lagoons
were favored, although humpback whales also showed flexible
habitat use patterns with respect to shallow offshore features
such as seamounts. At a coarse scale (1° resolution), humpback
whale breeding habitats in Oceania spanned a thermal range of
22.3–27.8°C in August, with interannual variation up to 2.0°C.
Within this range, both fine and coarse scale analyses of
humpback whale distribution suggested local responses to
temperature. Notably, the most detailed dataset was available
from New Caledonia (774 survey days, 1996–2017), where encounter
rates showed a negative relationship to sea surface temperature,
but were not related to the El Niño Southern Oscillation or the
Antarctic Oscillation from previous summer, a proxy for feeding
conditions that may impact breeding patterns. Many breeding
sites that are currently occupied are predicted to become
unsuitably warm for this species (>28°C) by the end of the
21st century. Based on modeled ecological relationships, there
are suitable habitats for relocation in archipelagos and
seamounts of southern Oceania. Although distribution shifts
might be restrained by philopatry, the apparent plasticity of
humpback whale habitat use patterns and the extent of suitable
habitats support an adaptive capacity to ocean warming in
Oceania breeding grounds.
The paper may be
downloaded on
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.14563
Feel free to
contact me directly for a PDF copy: solene.derville@ird.fr
Best,
-- Solène Derville PhD - Marine & Geospatial Ecology Association Opération Cétacés UMR Entropie - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement ---------- 101 Promenade Roger Laroque, BPA5 98848 Noumea cedex, New Caledonia Phone: +687 912299 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Solene_Derville