ABSTRACT: Australian sea lions Neophoca cinerea are endemic to Australia, with their contemporary distribution restricted to South Australia (SA) and Western Australia (WA). Monitoring of the species has proved challenging due to prolonged breeding events that occur non-annually and asynchronously across their range. The most recent available data from 80 extant breeding sites (48 in SA, 32 in WA) enabled us to estimate the species-wide pup abundance to be 2739, with 82% (2246) in SA and 18% (493) in WA, mostly based on surveys conducted between 2014 and 2019. We evaluated 1776 individual site-surveys undertaken between 1970 and 2019 and identified admissible time-series data from 30 breeding sites, which revealed that pup abundance declined on average by 2.0% yr^-1 (range 9.9% decline to 1.7% growth yr^-1). The overall reduction in pup abundance over 3 generations (42.3 yr) was estimated to be 64%, with over 98% of Monte Carlo simulations producing a decline >50% over a 3-generation period, providing strong evidence that the species meets IUCN ‘Endangered’ criteria (decline ≥50% and ≤80%). The population is much smaller than previously estimated and is declining. There is a strong cline in regional abundances (increasing from west to east), with marked within-region heterogeneity in breeding site pup abundances and trends. Results from this study should improve consistency in the assessment of the species and create greater certainty among stakeholders about its conservation status. To facilitate species management and recovery, we prioritise key data gaps and identify factors to improve population monitoring.

中文翻译：

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评估澳大利亚沿海被捕的海狮新灰虾的数量和现状

摘要：澳大利亚海狮新灰藻是澳大利亚特有的，其当代分布仅限于南澳大利亚（SA）和西澳大利亚（WA）。由于长期在整个物种范围内非年度和异步发生的繁殖事件，对物种的监测已被证明具有挑战性。来自80个现存繁殖点的最新数据（南澳大利亚48个，西澳大利亚州32个）使我们能够估计整个物种的幼鸟数量为2739个，其中SA占82％（2246），WA占18％（493），主要基于2014年至2019年之间的调查。我们评估了1970年至2019年之间进行的1776个站点调查，并从30个繁殖站点中确定了可接受的时间序列数据，这表明幼崽的数量平均每年下降2.0％^-1（范围^-1下降9.9％至1.7％增长^-1）。据估计，在3代（42.3年）的时间内，幼犬的丰度总体降低了64％，其中超过98％的蒙特卡洛模拟在3代时间内产生了> 50％的下降，这提供了有力的证据表明该物种符合IUCN'濒危”标准（下降≥50％和≤80％）。人口比以前估计的要小得多，并且正在下降。区域丰度有很强的上升趋势（从西向东递增），繁殖地点幼犬的丰度和趋势具有明显的区域内异质性。这项研究的结果应提高该物种评估的一致性，并在利益相关者之间建立关于其保护状况的更大确定性。为了促进物种管理和恢复，我们对关键数据缺口进行了优先排序，并确定了改善种群监测的因素。