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Bottom-up regulation of a pole-ward migratory predator population
Citation
van den Hoff, J and McMahon, CR and Simpkins, GR and Hindell, MA and Alderman, R and Burton, HA, Bottom-up regulation of a pole-ward migratory predator population, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 281, (1782) Article 20132842. ISSN 0962-8452 (2014) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2014 The Royal Society
DOI: doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.2842
Abstract
As the effects of regional climate change aremost pronounced at polar latitudes,
we might expect polar-ward migratory populations to respond as habitat suitability
changes. The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina L.) is a pole-ward
migratory species whose populations have mostly stabilized or increased in
the past decade, the one exception being the Macquarie Island population
which has decreased continuously over the past 50 years. To explore probable
causes of this anomalous trend, we counted breeding female seals annually
between 1988 and 2011 in order to relate annual rates of population change
(r) to foraging habitat changes that have known connections with atmospheric
variability.We found r (i) varied annually from 20.016 to 0.021 over the study
period, (ii) was most effected by anomalous atmospheric variability after a
3 year time lag was introduced (R = 0.51) and (iii) was associated with
sea-ice duration (SID) within the seals’ foraging range at the same temporal
lag. Negative r years may be extrapolated to explain, at least partially, the
overall trend in seal abundance at Macquarie Island; specifically, increasing
SID within the seals foraging range has a negative influence on their abundance
at the island. Evidence is accruing that suggests southern elephant seal
populations may respond positively to a reduced sea-ice field.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Southern Ocean, predators, ecology, climate change, Mirounga leonina, rate of population change, sea-ice duration, southern annular mode, winners and losers |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecology |
| Research Field: | Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Coastal and estuarine systems and management |
| Objective Field: | Assessment and management of coastal and estuarine ecosystems |
| UTAS Author: | McMahon, CR (Dr Clive McMahon) |
| UTAS Author: | Hindell, MA (Professor Mark Hindell) |
| ID Code: | 92725 |
| Year Published: | 2014 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 36 |
| Deposited By: | IMAS Research and Education Centre |
| Deposited On: | 2014-06-26 |
| Last Modified: | 2017-11-01 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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