School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
PeerJ. 2024 Oct 30;12:e18400. doi: 10.7717/peerj.18400. eCollection 2024.
Understanding species' critical habitat requirements is crucial for effective conservation and management. However, such information can be challenging to obtain, particularly for highly mobile, wide-ranging species such as cetaceans. In the absence of systematic surveys, alternative economically viable methods are needed, such as the use of data collected from platforms of opportunity, and modelling techniques to predict species distribution in un-surveyed areas. The present study used data collected by ecotourism and other vessels of opportunity to investigate important habitats of a small, poorly studied population of bottlenose dolphins in Port Phillip Bay, south-eastern Australia. Using 16 years of dolphin sighting location data, an ensemble habitat suitability model was built from which physical factors influencing dolphin distribution were identified. Results indicated that important habitats were those areas close to shipping channels and coastlines with these factors primarily influencing the variation in the likelihood of dolphin presence. The relatively good performance of the ensemble model suggests that simple presence-background data may be sufficient for predicting the species distribution where sighting data are limited. However, additional data from the center of Port Phillip Bay is required to further support this contention. Important habitat features identified in the study are likely to relate to favorable foraging conditions for dolphins as they are known to provide feeding, breeding, and spawning habitat for a diverse range of fish and cephalopod prey species. The results of the present study highlight the importance of affordable community-based data collection, such as ecotourism vessels, for obtaining information critical for effective management.
了解物种的关键生境需求对于有效的保护和管理至关重要。然而，对于像鲸鱼这样高度移动、分布广泛的物种来说，获取这些信息可能具有挑战性。在没有系统调查的情况下，需要替代经济可行的方法，例如利用从机会平台收集的数据和建模技术来预测未调查区域的物种分布。本研究利用生态旅游和其他机会平台收集的数据，调查了澳大利亚东南部菲利普港一个小型、研究较少的宽吻海豚种群的重要栖息地。利用 16 年的海豚目击位置数据，建立了一个集合栖息地适宜性模型，从中确定了影响海豚分布的物理因素。结果表明，重要的栖息地是那些靠近航运通道和海岸线的区域，这些因素主要影响海豚存在的可能性变化。集合模型的相对良好表现表明，在目击数据有限的情况下，简单的存在背景数据可能足以预测物种的分布。然而，需要来自菲利普港中心的额外数据来进一步支持这一论点。研究中确定的重要栖息地特征可能与海豚的觅食条件有关，因为众所周知，这些栖息地为各种鱼类和头足类猎物提供了觅食、繁殖和产卵的栖息地。本研究的结果强调了以社区为基础的经济实惠的数据收集的重要性，例如生态旅游船，这些数据对于获取有效的管理至关重要的信息至关重要。
