Pastran Sonya A, O'Hara Patrick D, Fox Caroline H, Drever Mark C, Vennesland Ross, Bertram Douglas F
Wildlife Research Division, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Integrated Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada.
Institute of Ocean Sciences, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Integrated Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 16;20(1):e0316946. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316946. eCollection 2025.
The marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) is a small seabird inhabiting coastal regions along the Pacific coast of North America, and nests in old-growth forests usually within 80 km from shore. The Canadian population of marbled murrelets is listed as Threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act. To investigate the species' marine distribution, we conducted analyses of the occurrence of marbled murrelets at-sea between 2000 and 2022, utilizing at-sea and marine shoreline surveys in the Canadian portion of the Salish Sea. The data were divided into breeding season (April to August) and non-breeding season (September to March) to examine the relationship between environmental covariates and the species' distribution. We considered terrestrial covariates related to potential nesting habitat, as well as marine covariates related to Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes personatus) quality habitat, slope, depth, streams, tidal currents, shorelines and climate indices (NPGO). We compared marine distribution between breeding and nonbreeding seasons and predicted variations in covariate relationships. Our study focuses on identifying averaged relationships and key spatial areas to gauge habitat quality at a landscape scale. Using a Generalized Additive Modelling approach, we found that both marine and terrestrial covariates contributed to predicting murrelet distribution during both seasons. Notably, Pacific sand lance habitat played a significant role in both the breeding and nonbreeding season, while the overall amount of nesting habitat within an 80 km radius influenced occurrence probability in the nonbreeding season. Our analysis accurately predicted distribution patterns at a resolution of 3 x 3 km with an AUC of 0.89 and AUPRC of 0.52 for the breeding season, and AUC of 0.88 and a AUPRC of 0.28 for non-breeding season. Overall, our study highlights both terrestrial and marine drivers that influence the marine distribution of this threatened species and informs Canadian conservation efforts.
斑海雀（Brachyramphus marmoratus）是一种小型海鸟，栖息于北美洲太平洋沿岸的沿海地区，通常在距离海岸80公里范围内的原始森林中筑巢。根据加拿大联邦《濒危物种法案》，加拿大的斑海雀种群被列为濒危物种。为了调查该物种的海洋分布情况，我们利用萨利希海加拿大部分海域的海上和海洋海岸线调查数据，对2000年至2022年间斑海雀在海上的出现情况进行了分析。数据被分为繁殖季节（4月至8月）和非繁殖季节（9月至次年3月），以研究环境协变量与该物种分布之间的关系。我们考虑了与潜在筑巢栖息地相关的陆地协变量，以及与太平洋沙鳗（Ammodytes personatus）优质栖息地、坡度、深度、溪流、潮流、海岸线和气候指数（NPGO）相关的海洋协变量。我们比较了繁殖季节和非繁殖季节的海洋分布情况，并预测了协变量关系的变化。我们的研究重点是确定平均关系和关键空间区域，以在景观尺度上评估栖息地质量。使用广义相加模型方法，我们发现海洋和陆地协变量在两个季节都有助于预测斑海雀的分布。值得注意的是，太平洋沙鳗栖息地在繁殖季节和非繁殖季节都发挥了重要作用，而半径80公里范围内的筑巢栖息地总量在非繁殖季节影响了出现概率。我们的分析以3×3公里的分辨率准确预测了分布模式，繁殖季节的曲线下面积（AUC）为0.89，精确召回率曲线下面积（AUPRC）为0.52，非繁殖季节的AUC为0.88，AUPRC为0.28。总体而言，我们的研究突出了影响这种濒危物种海洋分布的陆地和海洋驱动因素，并为加拿大的保护工作提供了信息。
