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Comparison of abundance and habitat usage for common bottlenose dolphins between sites exposed to differential anthropogenic stressors within the estuaries of southern Georgia, U.S.A
- Source :
- Marine Mammal Science. 29:E114-E135
- Publication Year :
- 2012
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2012.
-
Abstract
- The health of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) within southern Georgia estuaries is of particular concern due to high levels of anthropogenic contaminants in their tissues. Dolphins in this region have the highest polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations recorded for any marine mammal and these concentrations correlate to distance from a Superfund point-source in the Turtle/Brunswick River Estuary (TBRE). Currently, little is known about the population structure of dolphins in this region. This study identifies and compares baseline data on abundance, habitat use, site-fidelity, and ranging patterns of dolphins across two adjacent field sites; Brunswick, including the TBRE, and Sapelo, including the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve. Sapelo is relatively undeveloped and was selected for comparison to the more contaminated TBRE. Dolphin densities increased with tributary size in both sites but dolphin density and total abundance were significantly higher in Sapelo than in Brunswick. Anthropogenic stressors within the TBRE may be an important factor contributing to the differences in abundance, density, and habitat use observed in this study.
- Subjects :
- geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
biology
Ecology
Polychlorinated biphenyl
Estuary
Aquatic Science
Bottlenose dolphin
biology.organism_classification
law.invention
Fishery
chemistry.chemical_compound
Marine mammal
chemistry
Habitat
Abundance (ecology)
law
Tributary
Turtle (robot)
human activities
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 08240469
- Volume :
- 29
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Marine Mammal Science
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........0f7eae15a1795fcb940f573cd01e469d