Beyond correlation: integrating environmentally and behaviourally mediated processes in models of marine mammal distributions
Marine species distribution modeling has seen explosive growth in recent years, and the Endangered Species Research Theme Section entitled ‘Beyond marine mammal habitat modeling: applications for ecology and conservation’ demonstrates that the field of marine mammalogy has been no exception. For the...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Inter-Research
2013-12-01
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| Series: | Endangered Species Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v22/n3/p191-203/ |
| _version_ | 1798022056665677824 |
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| author | DM Palacios MF Baumgartner KL Laidre EJ Gregr |
| author_facet | DM Palacios MF Baumgartner KL Laidre EJ Gregr |
| author_sort | DM Palacios |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Marine species distribution modeling has seen explosive growth in recent years, and the Endangered Species Research Theme Section entitled ‘Beyond marine mammal habitat modeling: applications for ecology and conservation’ demonstrates that the field of marine mammalogy has been no exception. For the past decade, marine mammal ecologists have been developing habitat models with increasing proficiency and sophistication. However, these efforts have largely focused on correlative analyses of observed species-environment associations, which often have low explanatory power due to the absence of critical, but unaccounted for processes that are important drivers of animal distributions. Here we provide an overview of these processes, advocate for directed studies (e.g. tagging, prey sampling, focal follows, physiological assessment) to address how the processes influence species’ distributions, and challenge the modeling community to incorporate these results into their efforts. We also identify a progression of modeling stages from correlative to confirmatory to mechanistic that should lead us to formulate increasingly robust and accurate predictions of species distributions rooted in greater ecological understanding. Given the on-going risks to marine mammals from human activities and climate change, such models are needed for conservation and management now more than ever. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:23:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7aaf68cff39d46a8bb3d38ae4626d208 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1863-5407 1613-4796 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:23:40Z |
| publishDate | 2013-12-01 |
| publisher | Inter-Research |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Endangered Species Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-7aaf68cff39d46a8bb3d38ae4626d2082022-12-22T04:12:25ZengInter-ResearchEndangered Species Research1863-54071613-47962013-12-0122319120310.3354/esr00558Beyond correlation: integrating environmentally and behaviourally mediated processes in models of marine mammal distributionsDM Palacios0MF Baumgartner1KL Laidre2EJ Gregr3Environmental Research Division, NOAA/NMFS/Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 1352 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove, California 93950, USAWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Biology Department, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USAPolar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th Street, Seattle, Washington 98105, USASciTech Environmental Consulting. 2136 Napier Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V5L 2N9, CanadaMarine species distribution modeling has seen explosive growth in recent years, and the Endangered Species Research Theme Section entitled ‘Beyond marine mammal habitat modeling: applications for ecology and conservation’ demonstrates that the field of marine mammalogy has been no exception. For the past decade, marine mammal ecologists have been developing habitat models with increasing proficiency and sophistication. However, these efforts have largely focused on correlative analyses of observed species-environment associations, which often have low explanatory power due to the absence of critical, but unaccounted for processes that are important drivers of animal distributions. Here we provide an overview of these processes, advocate for directed studies (e.g. tagging, prey sampling, focal follows, physiological assessment) to address how the processes influence species’ distributions, and challenge the modeling community to incorporate these results into their efforts. We also identify a progression of modeling stages from correlative to confirmatory to mechanistic that should lead us to formulate increasingly robust and accurate predictions of species distributions rooted in greater ecological understanding. Given the on-going risks to marine mammals from human activities and climate change, such models are needed for conservation and management now more than ever.https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v22/n3/p191-203/ |
| spellingShingle | DM Palacios MF Baumgartner KL Laidre EJ Gregr Beyond correlation: integrating environmentally and behaviourally mediated processes in models of marine mammal distributions Endangered Species Research |
| title | Beyond correlation: integrating environmentally and behaviourally mediated processes in models of marine mammal distributions |
| title_full | Beyond correlation: integrating environmentally and behaviourally mediated processes in models of marine mammal distributions |
| title_fullStr | Beyond correlation: integrating environmentally and behaviourally mediated processes in models of marine mammal distributions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond correlation: integrating environmentally and behaviourally mediated processes in models of marine mammal distributions |
| title_short | Beyond correlation: integrating environmentally and behaviourally mediated processes in models of marine mammal distributions |
| title_sort | beyond correlation integrating environmentally and behaviourally mediated processes in models of marine mammal distributions |
| url | https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v22/n3/p191-203/ |
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