Little is known about how the Vulnerable dugong Dugong dugon uses coral reef lagoons despite the importance of these habitats throughout much of its vast range. We used GPS satellite tracking systems to explore the space use of 12 dugongs at 3 locations in the coral reef lagoons of the main island of New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific: Cap Goulvain, Ouano and Noumea. The movements of the tracked dugongs varied among individuals and all except one animal undertook large-scale movements (>15 km; mean [±SE] 37.7 ± 5.2 km) from their capture location (maximum waterway distance range: 13.8 to 72.9 km). The straight-line distances between the furthest GPS locations during each animal’s tracking period ranged from 21.3 to 74.5 km. We identified areas used intensively by dugongs in all 3 study areas, some of which were areas where seagrass presence has not been verified, or where dugongs have not been observed during past aerial surveys. Dugongs spent most of their tracking time within the lagoons, with 99.4% of GPS locations found inside the barrier reef. Nonetheless, where the lagoon was narrow and confined, 3 tracked dugongs used the fore reef shelf outside the barrier reef in the open ocean to commute between bays. Our findings can inform conservation and management initiatives in New Caledonia as well as other countries within the dugong’s range which have similar habitat geomorphology but where dugongs occur in numbers too low to be tracked and are considered Critically Endangered.

中文翻译：

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珊瑚礁泻湖生态系统中的儒艮（儒艮儒艮）运动和栖息地利用

尽管这些栖息地在其广阔的大部分地区很重要，但人们对脆弱的儒艮儒艮如何利用珊瑚礁泻湖知之甚少。我们使用 GPS 卫星跟踪系统在西南太平洋新喀里多尼亚主岛珊瑚礁泻湖的 3 个地点探索了 12 只儒艮的空间使用情况：Cap Goulvain、Ouano 和 Noumea。被追踪儒艮的运动因个体而异，除一只动物外，所有动物都从其捕获位置（最大水道距离范围：13.8 至 72.9 公里）进行了大规模运动（> 15 公里；平均 [±SE] 37.7 ± 5.2 公里）。每只动物追踪期间最远 GPS 位置之间的直线距离为 21.3 至 74.5 公里。我们确定了所有 3 个研究区域中儒艮密集使用的区域，其中一些是尚未核实海草存在的地区，或在过去的航空调查中未观察到儒艮的地区。儒艮的大部分追踪时间都在泻湖内度过，99.4% 的 GPS 位置都在大堡礁内。尽管如此，在泻湖狭窄且封闭的地方，3 只跟踪儒艮利用公海中堡礁外的前礁架在海湾之间往返。我们的研究结果可以为新喀里多尼亚以及儒艮范围内的其他国家提供信息，这些国家具有相似的栖息地地貌，但儒艮的数量太少而无法追踪，被认为是极度濒危物种。99.4% 的 GPS 定位位于堡礁内。尽管如此，在泻湖狭窄且封闭的地方，3 只被追踪的儒艮利用公海堡礁外的前礁架在海湾之间往返。我们的研究结果可以为新喀里多尼亚以及儒艮范围内的其他国家提供信息，这些国家具有相似的栖息地地貌，但儒艮的数量太少而无法追踪，被认为是极度濒危物种。99.4% 的 GPS 定位位于堡礁内。尽管如此，在泻湖狭窄且封闭的地方，3 只被追踪的儒艮利用公海堡礁外的前礁架在海湾之间往返。我们的研究结果可以为新喀里多尼亚以及儒艮范围内的其他国家提供信息，这些国家具有相似的栖息地地貌，但儒艮的数量太少而无法追踪，被认为是极度濒危物种。