Distinguishing the impacts of inadequate prey and vessel traffic on an endangered killer whale (Orcinus orca) population
| Autor: | Jennifer A. Hempelmann, Robin W. Baird, Kari L. Koski, Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, Rebecca K. Booth, Candice K. Emmons, M. Bradley Hanson, Katherine L. Ayres, Michael J. Ford, Samuel K. Wasser |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Předmět: |
Chinook wind
Anatomy and Physiology Population Dynamics Endangered species Wildlife Social and Behavioral Sciences Predation Marine Conservation Feces Predator-Prey Dynamics Salmon Psychology Physiological Ecology Conservation Science education.field_of_study Multidisciplinary biology Ecology Marine Ecology Oncorhynchus Triiodothyronine Medicine Research Article Washington Food Chain Genotype Animal Types Science Foraging Population Radioimmunoassay Psychological Stress Endocrine System Marine Biology Stress Physiological biology.animal Animals education Glucocorticoids Biology Ships British Columbia Endocrine Physiology Population Biology Whale Endangered Species Fisheries Science biology.organism_classification Fishery Disturbance (ecology) Accidents Veterinary Science Whale Killer Population Ecology Zoology Microsatellite Repeats |
| Zdroj: | PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 6, p e36842 (2012) PLoS ONE |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| Popis: | Managing endangered species often involves evaluating the relative impacts of multiple anthropogenic and ecological pressures. This challenge is particularly formidable for cetaceans, which spend the majority of their time underwater. Noninvasive physiological approaches can be especially informative in this regard. We used a combination of fecal thyroid (T3) and glucocorticoid (GC) hormone measures to assess two threats influencing the endangered southern resident killer whales (SRKW; Orcinus orca) that frequent the inland waters of British Columbia, Canada and Washington, U.S.A. Glucocorticoids increase in response to nutritional and psychological stress, whereas thyroid hormone declines in response to nutritional stress but is unaffected by psychological stress. The inadequate prey hypothesis argues that the killer whales have become prey limited due to reductions of their dominant prey, Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). The vessel impact hypothesis argues that high numbers of vessels in close proximity to the whales cause disturbance via psychological stress and/or impaired foraging ability. The GC and T3 measures supported the inadequate prey hypothesis. In particular, GC concentrations were negatively correlated with short-term changes in prey availability. Whereas, T3 concentrations varied by date and year in a manner that corresponded with more long-term prey availability. Physiological correlations with prey overshadowed any impacts of vessels since GCs were lowest during the peak in vessel abundance, which also coincided with the peak in salmon availability. Our results suggest that identification and recovery of strategic salmon populations in the SRKW diet are important to effectively promote SRKW recovery. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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