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Foraging habitat of North Atlantic right whales has declined in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, and may be insufficient for successful reproduction
Endangered Species Research ( IF 3.1 ) Pub Date : 2021-02-25 , DOI: 10.3354/esr01097
K Gavrilchuk 1 , V Lesage 1 , SME Fortune 2 , AW Trites 2 , S Plourde 1
Affiliation  

ABSTRACT: Climate-induced changes in calanoid copepod (Calanus spp.) availability in traditional feeding areas might explain why a large proportion of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis population has fed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada) in recent years. However, little is known about the distribution of copepods in the gulf, and whether their abundance is sufficient to energetically sustain right whales. We used a mechanistic modelling approach to predict areas within the gulf that have foraging potential for adult female right whales, based on the annual energetic needs of resting, pregnant and lactating females, and their theoretical prey density requirements. We identified suitable foraging areas for right whales by coupling a foraging bioenergetics model with a 12 yr data set (2006-2017) describing the abundance and 3-dimensional distribution of late-stage Calanus spp. in the gulf. Prey densities in the southern gulf (from Shediac Valley to the Magdalen Islands) supported all 3 reproductive states in most (≥6) years. However, foraging habitat became progressively sparse in the southern gulf over time, with noticeably less suitable habitat available after 2014. Few other potentially suitable foraging areas were identified elsewhere in the gulf. Overall, the availability of foraging habitat in the gulf varied considerably between years, and was higher for resting females than for pregnant and lactating females. Our findings are consistent with the recent low calving rates, and indicate that prey biomass in the Gulf of St. Lawrence may be insufficient in most years to support successful reproduction of North Atlantic right whales.

中文翻译:

加拿大圣劳伦斯湾的北大西洋右鲸觅食栖息地有所减少,可能不足以成功繁殖

摘要:气候引起的传统觅食地区的an足类pe足类(Calanus spp。)可用性变化可能解释了为什么北大西洋右鲸Eubalaena glacialis中有很大比例近年来,圣劳伦斯湾(加拿大)的人口已经觅食。但是,人们对of足类在海湾中的分布以及它们的丰度是否足以在能量上维持右鲸尚鲜为人知。我们基于休息,怀孕和哺乳期雌性的年度能量需求及其理论捕食密度要求,使用机械建模方法来预测海湾内成年雌性露脊鲸有觅食潜力的区域。我们通过将觅食生物能学模型与12年数据集(2006-2017年)相结合,确定了适合露脊鲸的觅食区域,该数据集描述了后期凯尾藻的丰度和3维分布spp。在海湾。在大多数(≥6)年中,南部海湾(从希迪亚克山谷到马格达林群岛)的猎物密度为所有3个繁殖州提供了支持。但是,随着时间的推移,南部海湾的觅食栖息地逐渐稀疏,2014年之后可用的栖息地明显减少。在海湾其他地方,几乎没有其他潜在的适宜觅食区域。总体而言,海湾中觅食生境的可利用性在数年之间差异很大,并且静止的雌性比怀孕和哺乳的雌性更高。我们的发现与近期的低产犊率相吻合,并表明圣劳伦斯湾的猎物生物量在大多数年份可能不足以支持北大西洋右鲸的成功繁殖。
更新日期:2021-02-25
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