Assessing the patterns of wildlife attendance to specific areas is relevant across many fundamental and applied ecological studies, particularly when animals are at risk of being exposed to stressors within or outside the boundaries of those areas. Marine mammals are increasingly being exposed to human activities that may cause behavioral and physiological changes, including military exercises using active sonars. Assessment of the population-level consequences of anthropogenic disturbance requires robust and efficient tools to quantify the levels of aggregate exposure for individuals in a population over biologically relevant time frames. We propose a discrete-space, continuous-time approach to estimate individual transition rates across the boundaries of an area of interest, informed by telemetry data collected with uncertainty. The approach allows inferring the effect of stressors on transition rates, the progressive return to baseline movement patterns, and any difference among individuals. We apply the modeling framework to telemetry data from Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) tagged in the Bahamas at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC), an area used by the U.S. Navy for fleet readiness training. We show that transition rates changed as a result of exposure to sonar exercises in the area, reflecting an avoidance response. Our approach supports the assessment of the aggregate exposure of individuals to sonar and the resulting population-level consequences. The approach has potential applications across many applied and fundamental problems where telemetry data are used to characterize animal occurrence within specific areas.

中文翻译：

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海洋哺乳动物暴露于海军声纳的离散空间连续时间模型

在许多基础和应用生态学研究中，评估特定区域的野生动物出勤模式是相关的，特别是当动物有暴露于这些区域边界内外的压力源的风险时。海洋哺乳动物越来越多地暴露于可能导致行为和生理变化的人类活动中，包括使用主动声纳的军事演习。评估人为干扰的人口水平后果需要强大而有效的工具来量化人口中个体在生物学相关时间范围内的总体暴露水平。我们提出了一种离散空间、连续时间的方法来估计跨感兴趣区域边界的个体转换率，该方法由收集到的具有不确定性的遥测数据提供信息。该方法允许推断压力源对转换率、逐渐恢复到基线运动模式以及个体之间的任何差异的影响。我们将建模框架应用于来自 Blainville 喙鲸的遥测数据（Mesoplodon densirostris）标记在大西洋海底测试和评估中心（AUTEC）的巴哈马，这是美国海军用于舰队战备训练的区域。我们表明，由于暴露于该地区的声纳练习，转换率发生了变化，反映了回避反应。我们的方法支持评估个人对声纳的总体暴露以及由此产生的人口水平后果。该方法在许多应用和基本问题中具有潜在应用，其中遥测数据用于表征特定区域内的动物发生。