Presentation_1_Prospective modelling of operational offshore wind farms on the distribution of marine megafauna in the southern North Sea.pdf

Intense development of Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs) has occurred in the North Sea with several more farms planned for the near future. These OWFs pose a threat to marine megafauna stressing the need to mitigate the impact of human activities. To help mitigate impacts, the Before After Gradient (BAG) design was proposed. We explored the use of the BAG method on megafauna sightings recorded at different distances from OWFs in the southern North Sea. We predicted intra-annual variability in species distribution, then correlated species distribution with the presence of operational OWFs and investigated the potential impact the operation of prospective OWFs may have on species distribution. Four patterns of intra-annual variability were predicted: species most abundant in spring, in winter, in both spring and winter, or all year round. We recommend that future OWF constructions be planned in summer and early fall to minimise impact on cetaceans and that offshore areas off northern France and Belgium be avoided to minimise impact on seabirds. Our prospective analysis predicted a decreased density for most species with the operation of prospective OWFs. Prospective approaches, using e.g. a BAG design, are paramount to inform species conservation as they can forecast the likely responses of megafauna to anthropogenic disturbances.</p

Sampling by cetacean species used for mitochondrial density and lipid content of the muscle.

<p>Sampling by cetacean species used for mitochondrial density and lipid content of the muscle.</p

Branching diagrams showing the ecological and evolutionary relationships among cetaceans.

<p>Sizes of the cetaceans are shown to scale, and colours reflect whether the species have high (red), moderate (green) or low (blue) costs of living. A: The ecological strategy tree was produced using a cluster analysis of the three combined indicators (mitochondrial density of the muscle, lipid content of the muscle and diet quality). Species are arranged from highest (top) to lowest (bottom) costs of living. B: The actual cetacean phylogenetic tree <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0050096#pone.0050096-Price1" target="_blank">[72]</a>. Species are grouped by family from top to bottom into Phocoenidae (harbour porpoise); Delphinidae (bottlenose, striped and common dolphins, and long-finned pilot whale), Ziphiidae (Cuvier's beaked whale and Mesoplodon whales), Kogiidae (pygmy sperm whale), Physeteridae (sperm whale) and Balaenopteridae (minke and fin whales).</p

Relationships between body mass, the quality of diet and the metabolic cost of living in cetaceans.

<p>Cost of living is represented only by mitochondrial density of the muscle (lipid content of the muscle showed the same patterns but was measured for fewer species). Each data point represents a single individual. A: Mitochondrial density of the muscle as a function of log body mass (kg). B: Mean energy density of diets (kJ⋅g⁻¹ wet mass) as a function of log body mass (kg). C: Mean energy density of diets as a function of mitochondrial density of the muscle.</p

Differences between the quality of diets and the metabolic costs of living in cetaceans.

<p>Means ± s.d. with different letters (a, b, c) show significantly different groups of cetaceans. A: Mean energy density of the diets (kJ⋅g⁻¹ wet mass). B: Cost of living as measured by the mitochondrial density of the muscle. C: Cost of living as measured by the lipid content of the muscle (% dry mass). Colours reflect the group of similarity identified for the mean energy density of diets: Group a in red, Group b in green and Group c in blue.</p

stable isotope data

stable_isotope_data.txt: input file for stable isotope analyses. Column 1: specimen voucher, Column 2: Laboratory analyses ID, Column 3: Ecotype (Coastal or Pelagic), Column 4: Sex (Female, Male or Undetermined), Column 5: Sulfur stable isotope values, Column 6: Carbon stable isotope values, Column7: Nitrogen stabe isotope value

morphology data

morpho_data.txt: input file for morphometric analyses. Column 1: specimen voucher, Column2: Laboratory analyses ID, Column 3: Ecotype (Coastal or Pelagic), Column 4: Sex (Female, Male or Undetermined), Column 5: L1 = total body length, Columns 6 to 14: Ratio R(n) of each measurement L(n) on the total body length (L1