The GEO Handbook on Biodiversity Observation Networks

biodiversity; conservation; ecosystem

Are we working towards global research priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles?

In 2010, an international group of 35 sea turtle researchers refined an initial list of more than 200 research questions into 20 metaquestions that were considered key for management and conservation of sea turtles. These were classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies. To obtain a picture of how research is being focused towards these key questions, we undertook a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature (2014 and 2015) attributing papers to the original 20 questions. In total, we reviewed 605 articles in full and from these 355 (59%) were judged to substantively address the 20 key questions, with others focusing on basic science and monitoring. Progress to answering the 20 questions was not uniform, and there were biases regarding focal turtle species, geographic scope and publication outlet. Whilst it offers some meaningful indications as to effort, quantifying peer-reviewed literature output is ob viously not the only, and possibly not the best, metric for understanding progress towards informing key conservation and management goals. Along with the literature review, an international group based on the original project consortium was assigned to critically summarise recent progress towards answering each of the 20 questions. We found that significant research is being expended towards global priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles. Although highly variable, there has been significant progress in all the key questions identified in 2010. Undertaking this critical review has highlighted that it may be timely to undertake one or more new prioritizing exercises. For this to have maximal benefit we make a range of recommendations for its execution. These include a far greater engagement with social sciences, widening the pool of contributors and focussing the questions, perhaps disaggregating ecology and conservatio

Are we working towards global research priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles?

This is the final version. Available from Inter Research via the DOI in this recordThere is another ORE record for this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/24817In 2010, an international group of 35 sea turtle researchers refined an initial list of more than 200 research questions into 20 metaquestions that were considered key for management and conservation of sea turtles. These were classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies. To obtain a picture of how research is being focused towards these key questions, we undertook a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature (2014 and 2015) attributing papers to the original 20 questions. In total, we reviewed 605 articles in full and from these 355 (59%) were judged to substantively address the 20 key questions, with others focusing on basic science and monitoring that may lead to innovations or inform subsequent interpretation of effectiveness of conservation interventions and/or severity of threats. Progress to answering the 20 questions was not uniform and there were biases regarding focal turtle species, geographic scope and publication outlet. Whilst it offers some meaningful indications as to effort, quantifying peer-reviewed literature output is obviously not the only, and possibly not the best, metric for understanding research progress towards informing key conservation and management goals. Along with the literature review, an international group based on the original project consortium, with additional members, were assigned in groups of two or three (based on core expertise) to critically summarise recent progress towards answering each of the 20 questions. We found that significant research is being expended towards global priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles. Although highly variable, there has been significant progress in all the key questions identified in 2010. Undertaking this critical review has highlighted that it may be timely to undertake one or more new prioritizing exercises. For this to have maximal benefit we make a range of recommendations for its execution. These include a far greater engagement with social sciences, widening the pool of contributors and focussing the questions, perhaps disaggregating ecology and conservation.K.R.W-S is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-125252

Analysis and Geovisualisation of Hector’s Dolphin Abundance and Distribution Patterns in Space and Time

While Hector’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectorii) has been the topic of many research projects within the first Marine Mammal Sanctuary in New Zealand, few long-term analytical abundance and distribution projects in other population strongholds have been conducted. The primary purpose of this thesis project was to test quantitative observations that suggested that this unprotected population of Hector’s dolphin at Te Waewae Bay, on the south coast of the South Island, New Zealand, may be in decline and utilises non-continuous portions of the coastline. Seasonal patterns of distribution and density were extracted from a rich data set collected over 24 consecutive months that provided fine-scale data of encounters with dolphins along four preplanned transects that followed the concave nature of the bay. Monthly data were binned into seasons producing eight seasons of data over the two years. Survey results revealed that Hector’s dolphin in warmer seasons were found in greater densities closer to shore and that in the cooler seasons the range extended outward and across more offshore areas. Individual seasons did not have as strong a pattern as the complete two year data set that indicated hotspots of higher densities of dolphins in the vicinity of freshwater inputs into Te Waewae Bay. To explore individual spatio-temporal movement patterns and how the individual patterns relate to group spatio-temporal patterns, 58 individual Hector’s dolphin movements were extracted from geo-tagged photographic data and then analysed. Visual analysis of movement patterns of individual dolphins were found to vary dramatically, having distribution patterns that exhibited a high degree of site fidelity. Most notable were the twenty one dolphins that remained in relatively small areas on either the east (ten dolphins) or west (eleven dolphins) halves of the bay. This evidence of strong site fidelity may suggest partitioning along as yet unidentified social or environmental parameters. Abundance estimates were calculated from mark-recapture photographic identifications. Calculations using Pollock’s Robust Design were limited to seasonal estimates of the total population of Hector’s dolphins, which ranged from the low in winter 2005 of 380 (CV=13%; 95% CI, 300-500) to the high in summer 2005/2006 of 580 (CV=9%; 95% CI, 480-700). The estimates from these eight seasons correspond to the numbers of dolphins that utilise the bay as their primary homerange and indicate that the population is not yet in a critical decline. However, caution is urged in interpretation because two years of field data is insufficient to calculate robust survival or reproduction rates for such a long lived species. To examine whether statistically quantifiable relationships exist between environmental variables and dolphin distribution patterns, both global (ordinary least squares; OLS) and local regression (geographically weighted regression; GWR) modelling techniques were applied. The local model was a spatially explicit model. The GWR model outperformed the OLS model, revealing statistically significant hotspots directly related to the amount of rain falling four days prior to the surveys being conducted as well as to distance from the main source of freshwater in the bay. The outcomes from this thesis offer a robust baseline of information regarding the population of Hector’s dolphin in Te Waewae Bay, such that management will have the capacity to monitor long term changes in abundance and distribution. This thesis findings have suggested that freshwater input may play a crucial role in Hector’s dolphin distribution in Te Waewae Bay, which when added to previous research results indicating the importance of oceanic frontal zones, water clarity, and depth, suggests that the picture of habitat requirements for Hector’s dolphin is becoming less obscure

The First Global Integrated Marine Assessment: World Ocean Assessment I

We used satellite-derived sea-surface-temperature (SST) data along with in-situ data collected along a meridional transect between 18.85 and 20.25°N along 69.2°E to describe the evolution of an SST filament and front during 25 November to 1 December in the northeastern Arabian Sea (NEAS). Both features were ∼ 100 km long, lasted about a week and were associated with weak temperature gradients (∼ 0.07°C km⁻¹). The in-situ data were collected first using a suite of surface sensors during a north–south mapping of this transect and showed the existence of a chlorophyll maximum within the filament. This surface data acquisition was followed by a high-resolution south–north CTD (conductivity–temperature–depth) sampling along the transect. In the two days that elapsed between the two in-situ measurements, the filament had shrunk in size and moved northward. In general, the current direction was northwestward and advected these mesoscale features. The CTD data also showed an SST front towards the northern end of the transect. In both these features, the chlorophyll concentration was higher than in the surrounding waters. The temperature and salinity data from the CTD suggest upward mixing or pumping of water from the base of the mixed layer, where a chlorophyll maximum was present, into the mixed layer that was about 60 m thick. A striking diurnal cycle was evident in the chlorophyll concentration, with higher values tending to occur closer to the surface during the night. The in-situ data from both surface sensors and CTD, and so also satellite-derived chlorophyll data, showed higher chlorophyll concentration, particularly at sub-surface levels, between the filament and the front, but there was no corresponding signature in the temperature and salinity data. Analysis of the SST fronts in the satellite data shows that fronts weaker than those associated with the filament and the front had crossed the transect in this region a day or two preceding the sampling of the front

A marine biogeographic assessment of the northwestern Hawaiian Islands

The mission of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) is to serve as the trustee for a system of marine protected areas, to conserve, protect and enhance biodiversity. To assist in accomplishing this mission, the ONMS has developed a partnership with NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment’s Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB) to conduct biogeographic assessments of marine resources within and adjacent to the marine waters of NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries (Kendall and Monaco, 2003). Biogeography is the study of spatial and temporal distributions of organisms, their associated habitats, and the historical and biological factors that influence species’ distributions. Biogeography provides a framework to integrate species distributions and life history data with information on the habitats of a region to characterize and assess living marine resources within a sanctuary. The biogeographic data are integrated in a Geographical Information System (GIS) to enable visualization of species’ spatial and temporal patterns, and to predict changes in abundance that may result from a variety of natural and anthropogenic perturbations or management strategies (Monaco et al., 2005; Battista and Monaco, 2004). Defining biogeographic patterns of living marine resources found throughout the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) was identified as a priority activity at a May 2003 workshop designed to outline scientifi c and management information needs for the NWHI (Alexander et al., 2004). NOAA’s Biogeography Branch and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM) under the direction of the ONMS designed and implemented this biogeographic assessment to directly support the research and management needs of the PMNM by providing a suite of spatially-articulated products in map and tabular formats. The major fi ndings of the biogeographic assessment are organized by chapter and listed below

Modern Telemetry

Telemetry is based on knowledge of various disciplines like Electronics, Measurement, Control and Communication along with their combination. This fact leads to a need of studying and understanding of these principles before the usage of Telemetry on selected problem solving. Spending time is however many times returned in form of obtained data or knowledge which telemetry system can provide. Usage of telemetry can be found in many areas from military through biomedical to real medical applications. Modern way to create a wireless sensors remotely connected to central system with artificial intelligence provide many new, sometimes unusual ways to get a knowledge about remote objects behaviour. This book is intended to present some new up to date accesses to telemetry problems solving by use of new sensors conceptions, new wireless transfer or communication techniques, data collection or processing techniques as well as several real use case scenarios describing model examples. Most of book chapters deals with many real cases of telemetry issues which can be used as a cookbooks for your own telemetry related problems