Faculty of Edit this on the Title Master

Project 4.2 Identifying areas of ecological significance

for iconic species and apex predators in the GAB

Prof Simon GoldsworthySARDI Aquatic Sciences

Simon Goldsworthy (SARDI)Fred Bailleul (SARDI)Toby Patterson (CSIRO)

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

Satellite telemetry data 8 species 500 deployments~5,000 tracks

Use leading techniques to integrate location data from electronic tags/sightings with environmental data to develop distribution/habitat preference models, and identify key regions common to multiple species

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

Datasets

Species Type of species Type of dataData

featuresData type

Time period covered by the data

Number of tracks or

observations

Number of individuals

Number of colonies

Source of DataOrganisations

Australian sea lions

Central place forager

TRACKING

Argos, GPSPresence

only2003 - 2015 4051 tracks 196 34

SARDI IMOS

Australian fur seals ArgosPresence

only1995 - 2003 415 tracks 38 3 PINP

Long-nosed fur seals ArgosPresence

only2000 - 2007 161 tracks 87 5

SARDI FRDC

Little penguins ArgosPresence

only2004 - 2009 108 tracks 94 8 SARDI

Short tailed shearwater

ArgosPresence

only2006 - 2007 33 tracks 31 2 SARDI

Blue sharks

Non central place forager

ArgosPresence

only2015 - 2016 8 tracks 8 NA SARDI

Shortfin mako ArgosPresence

only2008 - 2015 18 tracks 18 NA SARDI

White sharks ArgosPresence

only2015 5 tracks 5 NA

SARDI(BP 4.1)

Southern bluefin tuna GeolocPresence

only1998 - 2011 125 tracks 125 NA

CSIRO(BP 4.3)

Pygmy blue whales

SURVEYS

AerialPresence

only2003 - 2005 - 2011 -

2016119 obs - NA

BWS (BP 4.1)

Sperm whalesAerial / Boat / Historical

whaling

Presence only

1958 - 2016 15579 obs - NA

BWS (BP 4.1)/SAM/OZCAM/AADC/OBIS/

NWDSSD/NS/ RPS/IFAW/IWC

11 species, 500 deployments, ~5,000 tracks, ~16,000 observations

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

Months

2 4 6 8 10 12

STSW

BW

SBT

SM

BS

WS

SW

LNFS

LP

AFS

ASL Resident - CPF

Resident - CPF

Resident - CPF

Resident - CPF

Resident

Migratory

Highly Migratory

Highly Migratory

Highly Migratory

Highly Migratory – high seasonality

Highly Migratory – high seasonality – CPF

High

Low

Resi

denc

y

Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec

ASL = Australian sea lion; AFS = Australian fur seal; LP = little penguin; LNFS = long-nosed fur seal; SW = Sperm whale; WS = white shark;BS = blue shark; SM = shortfin- mako; SBT = southern Bluefin tuna; BW = pygmy blue whale; STSW = short-tailed shearwaterCPF = Central Place Forager (seals and seabirds with shore-based breeding colonies)

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

a)

b)

Females

Males

Distribution at sea and foraging habitats – Example 1

Satellite telemetry data

Species distribution model Australian sea lion

The maximum entropy model (Maxent) suited the entire available tracking and survey dataset of this study.

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

Distribution at sea and foraging habitats – Example 1

Standardised probability of potential distribution (habitat suitability: 3 factors distance from shelf break, distance from coast, depth)

Females

Males

a)

b)

Females

Males

All locations Foraging locations (state-space models)

The maximum entropy model (Maxent) suited the entire available tracking and survey dataset of this study.

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

a)

b)

Distribution at sea and foraging habitats – Example 1Standardised probability of potential distribution (habitat suitability: 3 factors distance from shelf break, distance from coast, depth)

Females

Males

Females

Males

Distribution/abundance Foraging/abundance

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

Distribution at sea and foraging habitats – Example 2

Sightings/whaling records

15,500 records• Location data from Project 4.1• National Whale & Dolphin Sightings and

Strandings Database (1979-1992)• South Australian Museum (1915-2013• Marine Mammal Observer data collected during

seismic surveys (2011-2014)• IWC individual catch data (1912-1978)• Historical whaling data (1913-1978)

Standardised probability of potential distribution Habitat suitability explained by bathymetry (77%), sea bottom aspect (13%) and slope (10%)

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

High use

Medium use

Low use

High-use areas and key regions Distribution (11 species)

Central place foragers

Non-Central place foragers

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High-used areas and key regions - Distribution

Distribution Central Place Foragers / Abundance(5 species)

High use

Medium use

Low use

Distribution Non-Central Place Foragers(6 species)

High use

Medium use

Low use

Distribution / Abundance (11 species)

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

High-used areas and key regions –Foraging

Foraging Central Place Foragers / Abundance(5 species)

Foraging Non-Central Place Foragers(4 species)

High use

Medium use

Low use

Foraging / Abundance (9 species)

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

Biological and physical oceanographic features

Two key regions

120 125 130 135 140 145

-42

-40

-38

-36

-34

-32

Longitude

Latit

ude

High useMedium useLow use

0 200

km

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

Biological and physical oceanographic features

Key regions:- Shelf & slope- Narrow shelves

0 200 400 600 800 1000

0.00.2

0.40.6

0.81.0

Distance (m)

Densi

ty

0 200 400 600 800 1000

0.00.2

0.40.6

0.81.0

Distance (m)

Densi

ty

-6000 -4000 -2000 0

0.00.2

0.40.6

0.81.0

Sea bottom (m)

Densi

tya)

b)

c)

Bathymetry

Distance coast

Distance slope

Freq

uenc

yFr

eque

ncy

Freq

uenc

yFr

eque

ncy

Freq

uenc

y

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

Key findings• First regional integration of tracking

and distribution data for apex predator species in the GAB

• Synthesis and integration of one of the largest global satellite telemetry databases

• Maps of distribution and habitats for key species

• Identification of shared oceanic, shelf-slope and neritic foraging habitats

• identification of key regions in the eastern central and western GAB

• characterisation of oceanographic features of high-use regions

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

• Identification of key regions utilised by multiple species furthers our understanding of how physical and biological oceanographic features and processes couple together to create critical habitats for communities of apex predators in the GAB

• Reaffirms importance of the GAB as a key region for many iconic/apex predator species, for both resident and highly migratory species

• Relevant to species recovery plans, marine park management, identification, management and mitigation of impacts

Implications

• Identification of key regions/habitats utilised by multiple species provides critical information for threatened, migratory and protected species management in the GAB

• Identify and resolve overlap between key regions used my multiple predators species and human activities – provides important capacity to better manage our activities, impacts and interactions

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

• Tracking data in project 4.2 sourced from several current and past SARDI, IMOS, AMMC and PhD student projects, including PhDs by Micheal Drew, Mathew Heard, Tom Barnes, Paul Rogers, Luke Einoder, Brad Page, Alistair Baylis, Lachlan McLeay, Annelise Wiebkin, Andrew Lowether

• Roger Kirkwood and Peter Dann (Phillip Island Nature Park)• Mark Hindell and Ian Jonsen - Technical Expert Team for Project

Acknowledgements