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Identifying foraging habitats of Baltic ringed seals using movement data.
Sari M Oksanen1, Marja Niemi1, Markus P Ahola2
1Department of Biology, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland.
Movement Ecology
|September 25, 2015
Summary
Baltic ringed seals utilize extensive foraging areas, often remote, necessitating broad conservation strategies. Management of these key habitats within marine protected areas can aid seal conservation and mitigate fishery conflicts.
Area of Science:
- Marine ecology
- Wildlife conservation
- Spatial ecology
Background:
- Effective management of aquatic top predators requires identifying key foraging habitats.
- Understanding the spatial ecology of the Baltic ringed seal (Phoca hispida botnica) is crucial for population management and mitigating human-wildlife conflicts, particularly with coastal fisheries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate habitat use and identify foraging areas of ringed seals in the northern Baltic Sea during autumn using satellite telemetry.
- To apply the first passage time (FPT) approach to delineate high-residency areas indicative of foraging behavior.
Main Methods:
- Satellite telemetry tracking of 26 ringed seals in the northern Baltic Sea.
- Utilizing the first passage time (FPT) method to identify core foraging areas based on residency patterns.
- Analysis of home range size using adaptive local nearest-neighbour convex hull (a-LoCoH).
Main Results:
- Ringed seals exhibited large home ranges (mean 8030 km²), with 24 out of 26 individuals utilizing 1-6 main foraging areas for approximately 47% of their time.
- Two distinct foraging strategies were observed: 'long-range foragers' (n=17) using remote areas (mean distance 328 km) and 'local foragers' (n=9) concentrating on areas closer to each other (mean distance 67 km).
- Foraging areas were consistently found in shallow waters (mean 13 m depth) near the mainland (mean 10 km distance), overlapping with marine protected areas and coastal fisheries.
Conclusions:
- Ringed seals forage over large, often remote areas, suggesting that localized removal of individuals may not effectively mitigate seal depredation on fisheries.
- The overlap of identified foraging areas with existing marine protected areas indicates potential for incorporating these key habitats into current conservation networks.
- Management strategies should consider the extensive spatial requirements of ringed seals for effective conservation and human-wildlife conflict resolution.
