Wingfield Jessica E, O'Brien Michael, Lyubchich Vyacheslav, Roberts Jason J, Halpin Patrick N, Rice Aaron N, Bailey Helen
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Solomons, Maryland, United States of America.
Marine Geospatial Ecology Laboratory, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2017 May 3;12(5):e0176653. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176653. eCollection 2017.
Offshore windfarms provide renewable energy, but activities during the construction phase can affect marine mammals. To understand how the construction of an offshore windfarm in the Maryland Wind Energy Area (WEA) off Maryland, USA, might impact harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), it is essential to determine their poorly understood year-round distribution. Although habitat-based models can help predict the occurrence of species in areas with limited or no sampling, they require validation to determine the accuracy of the predictions. Incorporating more than 18 months of harbour porpoise detection data from passive acoustic monitoring, generalized auto-regressive moving average and generalized additive models were used to investigate harbour porpoise occurrence within and around the Maryland WEA in relation to temporal and environmental variables. Acoustic detection metrics were compared to habitat-based density estimates derived from aerial and boat-based sightings to validate the model predictions. Harbour porpoises occurred significantly more frequently during January to May, and foraged significantly more often in the evenings to early mornings at sites within and outside the Maryland WEA. Harbour porpoise occurrence peaked at sea surface temperatures of 5°C and chlorophyll a concentrations of 4.5 to 7.4 mg m-3. The acoustic detections were significantly correlated with the predicted densities, except at the most inshore site. This study provides insight into previously unknown fine-scale spatial and temporal patterns in distribution of harbour porpoises offshore of Maryland. The results can be used to help inform future monitoring and mitigate the impacts of windfarm construction and other human activities.
海上风力发电场提供可再生能源，但建设阶段的活动会影响海洋哺乳动物。为了解美国马里兰州近海风能区（WEA）的海上风力发电场建设可能如何影响港湾鼠海豚（Phocoena phocoena），确定它们鲜为人知的全年分布情况至关重要。尽管基于栖息地的模型有助于预测在采样有限或没有采样的区域物种的出现情况，但需要进行验证以确定预测的准确性。结合超过18个月来自被动声学监测的港湾鼠海豚探测数据，使用广义自回归移动平均模型和广义相加模型，研究了马里兰州风能区内及周边港湾鼠海豚的出现情况与时间和环境变量的关系。将声学探测指标与通过空中和船只目击得出的基于栖息地的密度估计值进行比较，以验证模型预测。港湾鼠海豚在1月至5月期间出现的频率显著更高，并且在马里兰州风能区内及区外的地点，在傍晚至清晨觅食的频率显著更高。港湾鼠海豚的出现频率在海面温度为5°C、叶绿素a浓度为4.5至7.4毫克/立方米时达到峰值。除了最靠近海岸的地点外，声学探测结果与预测密度显著相关。本研究深入了解了马里兰州近海港湾鼠海豚分布中以前未知的精细时空模式。研究结果可用于为未来的监测提供信息，并减轻风力发电场建设和其他人类活动的影响。
