1. Historical summer distribution of the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis): a hypothesis based on environmental preferences of a congeneric species
- Author
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Tim D. Smith, Maria Grazia Pennino, David M. Kaplan, Sophie Monsarrat, Ana S. L. Rodrigues, Randall R. Reeves, Christine N. Meynard, Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM), UMR 212 EME 'écosystèmes marins exploités' (EME), Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), World Whaling History, Okapi Wildlife Associates, Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations (UMR CBGP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro), Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), College of William and Mary [Williamsburg] (WM), The MORSE project funded this project (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, CEP&S 2011 – Project ANR-11-CEPL-006). This paper benefited from discussions with members of the CESAB (Center for Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiversity) PELAGIC project, financed by the 'Fondation pour la diversité' (FRB) and the Fondation TOTAL., ANR-11-CEPL-0006,MORSE,Gestion de ressources marines sous des attendus changeants : amener la perspective historique dans la conservation de mammifères marins(2011), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), and Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])
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Range (biology) ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,Species distribution ,Population ,Endangered species ,Distribution (economics) ,historical distribution ,Latitude ,Whaling ,Boosted regression trees ,14. Life underwater ,education ,species distribution models ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,education.field_of_study ,biology ,Ecology ,business.industry ,whaling ,right whale ,biology.organism_classification ,Geography ,13. Climate action ,Right whale ,business ,Eubalaena - Abstract
International audience; Aim To obtain a plausible hypothesis for the historical distribution of North Atlantic right whales (NARWs) (Eubalaena glacialis) in their summer feeding grounds. Previously widespread in the North Atlantic, after centuries of hunting, these whales survive as a small population off eastern North America. Because their exploitation began before formal records started, information about their historical distribution is fragmentary. Location North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. Methods We linked historical records of North Pacific right whales (E.japonica; from 19th-century American whaling logbooks) with oceanographic data to generate a species distribution model. Assuming that the two species have similar environmental preferences, the model was projected into the North Atlantic to predict environmental suitability for NARWs. The reliability of these predictions was assessed by comparing the model results with historical and recent records in the North Atlantic. Results The model predicts suitable environmental conditions over a wide, mostly offshore band across the North Atlantic. Predictions are well supported by historical and recent records, but discrepancies in some areas indicate lower discriminative ability in coastal, shallow-depth areas, suggesting that this model mainly describes the summer offshore distribution of right whales. Main conclusions Our results suggest that the summer range of the NARW consisted of a relatively narrow band (width c.10 degrees in latitude), extending from the eastern coast of North America to northern Norway, over the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, south of Greenland and Iceland, north of the British Isles and in the Norwegian Sea. These results highlight possibilities for additional research both on the history of exploitation and on the current summer distribution of this species. In particular, better survey coverage of historical whaling grounds could help inform conservation efforts for this endangered species. More generally, this study illustrates the challenges and opportunities in using historical data to understand the original distribution of highly depleted species.
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- 2015