Understanding the Patterns and Causes of Variability in Distribution, Habitat use, Abundance, Survival and Reproductive Rates of Three Species of Cetacean in the Alboran Sea, Western Mediterranean.

摘要

The question of how environmental variability affects populations of marine top predators is an important one because of their role within ecosystems and their potential to influence community structure and biodiversity (Heithaus et al. 2008). An understanding of the patterns of distribution and abundance and particularly the causes of that variation is critical to making informed assessments of the importance of anthropogenic activities to marine mammal populations. This project will quantify changes in distribution, habitat use, abundance, survival and reproductive rates of three species of cetacean in the Albor n Sea (western Mediterranean) in relation to variation in the physical and biological environment and human activities, based on 18 years of data. The proposed study species, bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and longfinned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) occupy different oceanographic niches off southern Spain. The Albor n Sea is a highly productive and distinct ecosystem that plays an important role in the oceanography of the Mediterranean basin, and has experienced marked changes in climatic and oceanographic conditions.