Journal
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Volume 12, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8554
Keywords
abundance estimation; C-POD; detection function; passive acoustic monitoring; Phocoena phocoena
Categories
Funding
- Bundesministerium fur Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit [COSAMM FKZ 0325238]
- Narodowy Fundusz Ochrony Srodowiska i Gospodarki Wodnej [561/2009/Wn-50/OP/RE-LF/D]
- Glowny Inspektorat Ochrony Srodowiska Bundesamt fur Naturschutz [SAMBAH II 5 Vw/52602/2011-Mar 36032/66]
- Miljoog Fodevareministeriet [SN 343/SN-0008]
- Havsoch Vattenmyndigheten
- European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
- Naturvardsverket
- Carlsbergfondet [CF16-0861]
- Turun ammattikorkeakoulu Oy
- Tampereen Sarkanniemi Ltd.
- Instytut Meteorologii i Gospodarki Wodnej-Panstwowy Instytut Badawczy
- Wojewodzki Fundusz Ochrony Srodowiska i Gospodarki Wodnej w Gdansku
- Uniwersytet Gdanski
- Japanese Science and Technology Agency-CREST [7620-7]
- European Commission [LIFE08 NAT/S/000261]
- Kolmardens Djurpark
- Miljoministeriet
- Maailman Luonnon Saatio (WWF) Suomen Rahasto
- Ymparistoministerio
- SNAK Ph.D. School, Aarhus University [91147/365]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Knowing the abundance of a population is crucial for assessing its conservation status and developing effective conservation plans. This study estimated the abundance of the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise for the first time through passive acoustic monitoring and found that it is critically endangered. Immediate and efficient conservation actions through international cooperation are urgently needed.
Knowing the abundance of a population is a crucial component to assess its conservation status and develop effective conservation plans. For most cetaceans, abundance estimation is difficult given their cryptic and mobile nature, especially when the population is small and has a transnational distribution. In the Baltic Sea, the number of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) has collapsed since the mid-20th century and the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN and HELCOM; however, its abundance remains unknown. Here, one of the largest ever passive acoustic monitoring studies was carried out by eight Baltic Sea nations to estimate the abundance of the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise for the first time. By logging porpoise echolocation signals at 298 stations during May 2011-April 2013, calibrating the loggers' spatial detection performance at sea, and measuring the click rate of tagged individuals, we estimated an abundance of 71-1105 individuals (95% CI, point estimate 491) during May-October within the population's proposed management border. The small abundance estimate strongly supports that the Baltic Proper harbour porpoise is facing an extremely high risk of extinction, and highlights the need for immediate and efficient conservation actions through international cooperation. It also provides a starting point in monitoring the trend of the population abundance to evaluate the effectiveness of management measures and determine its interactions with the larger neighboring Belt Sea population. Further, we offer evidence that design-based passive acoustic monitoring can generate reliable estimates of the abundance of rare and cryptic animal populations across large spatial scales.
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