The New Zealand endemic Maui’s dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori maui is characterized by several life history traits thought to be important predictors of extinction risk in marine mammals, including a slow rate of reproduction, small geographic range, small group size, and coastal distribution. We continued the genetic monitoring of the remnant...
Estimating the abundance of long-lived, migratory animals is challenging but essential
for managing populations. We provide the first abundance estimates of endangered humpback
whales Megaptera novaeangliae from their breeding grounds in Oceania, South Pacific.
Using fluke photo-identification (1999−2004, n = 660 individuals) and microsatellite genotypes
(1999−2005, n = 840 individuals),...
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-identification and microsatellite genotyping
Rochelle Constantine1,*, Jennifer A. Jackson, Debbie Steel, C
Estimating the abundance of long-lived, migratory animals is challenging but essential
for managing populations. We provide the first abundance estimates of endangered humpback
whales Megaptera novaeangliae from their breeding grounds in Oceania, South Pacific.
Using fluke photo-identification (1999−2004, n = 660 individuals) and microsatellite genotypes
(1999−2005, n = 840 individuals),...
Full Text:
4
Rochelle Constantine1, Jennifer Jackson2, Debbie Steel1,3, C. Scott Baker1,3*, 5
Lyndon
Estimating the abundance of long-lived, migratory animals is challenging but essential
for managing populations. We provide the first abundance estimates of endangered humpback
whales Megaptera novaeangliae from their breeding grounds in Oceania, South Pacific.
Using fluke photo-identification (1999−2004, n = 660 individuals) and microsatellite genotypes
(1999−2005, n = 840 individuals),...
Capture-recapture studies offer a powerful tool to assess abundance, survival and population rate of change (λ). A previous capture-recapture study, based on DNA profiles, estimated that the IUCN-listed Endangered Oceania population of humpback whales had a superpopulation size of 4329 whales (95% confidence limits, CL: 3345, 5315) and λ =...
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al. 2008, Constantine et al. 2014) and satellite tag
studies (Hauser et al. 2010, Horton et al. 2011
South Pacific humpback whales were devastated by commercial whaling in their Antarctic feeding areas during the 20th century. Understanding migratory connections and current abundance of these isolated breeding stocks is crucial for the allocation of historical Antarctic catches in population dynamic models used to assess current recovery. However, only a...
Species conservation depends on robust population assessment. Data on population abundance, distribution, and connectivity are critical for effective management, especially as baseline information for newly documented populations. I describe a pygmy blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) population in New Zealand waters with year-round presence that overlaps with industrial activities. This...
We investigated the species identity and local use of cetaceans on the Gilbert
Islands, Republic of Kiribati. Working with the Kiribati Ministry of Environment,
Lands and Agricultural Development and Fisheries Division, we visited
the islands of Tarawa, Tabiteuea (North), Butaritari and Onotoa from June to
July 2009, and collected 24...
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. We also thank Sue
Taei, Michael Donoghue, and RochelleConstantine for
their interest and assistance
The critically endangered Maui's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori maui) and the endangered Hector's dolphin (C. h. hectori) are endemic to the coastal waters of New Zealand, where their primary threat is fisheries-related mortality. The Maui's dolphin is among the most critically endangered cetaceans in the world, with its remnant population primarily...
Superpopulation capture–recapture models are useful for estimating the abundance of long-lived, migratory species because they are able to account for the fluid nature of annual residency at migratory destinations. Here we extend the superpopulation POPAN model to explicitly account for heterogeneity in capture probability linked to reproductive cycles (POPAN-τ). This...