Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (Dec 2023)
Exposure of marine megafauna to cumulative anthropogenic threats in north-west Australia
- Luciana C. Ferreira,
- Michele Thums,
- Scott Whiting,
- Mark Meekan,
- Virginia Andrews-Goff,
- Catherine R. M. Attard,
- Kerstin Bilgmann,
- Kerstin Bilgmann,
- Andrew Davenport,
- Mike Double,
- Fabio Falchi,
- Fabio Falchi,
- Michael Guinea,
- Sharyn M. Hickey,
- Curt Jenner,
- Micheline Jenner,
- Graham Loewenthal,
- Glenn McFarlane,
- Luciana M. Möller,
- Brad Norman,
- Brad Norman,
- Lauren Peel,
- Kellie Pendoley,
- Ben Radford,
- Ben Radford,
- Samantha Reynolds,
- Jason Rossendell,
- Anton Tucker,
- David Waayers,
- Paul Whittock,
- Phillipa Wilson,
- Phillipa Wilson,
- Sabrina Fossette,
- Sabrina Fossette
Affiliations
- Luciana C. Ferreira
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Michele Thums
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Scott Whiting
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, WA, Australia
- Mark Meekan
- Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Virginia Andrews-Goff
- Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Hobart, TAS, Australia
- Catherine R. M. Attard
- Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- Kerstin Bilgmann
- Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- Kerstin Bilgmann
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Andrew Davenport
- Centre for Whale Research (WA) Inc., Fremantle, WA, Australia
- Mike Double
- Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Hobart, TAS, Australia
- Fabio Falchi
- Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
- Fabio Falchi
- ISTIL – Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute, Thiene, Italy
- Michael Guinea
- 0Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia
- Sharyn M. Hickey
- 1School of Agriculture and Environment and the Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Curt Jenner
- Centre for Whale Research (WA) Inc., Fremantle, WA, Australia
- Micheline Jenner
- Centre for Whale Research (WA) Inc., Fremantle, WA, Australia
- Graham Loewenthal
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, WA, Australia
- Glenn McFarlane
- 2Conservation Volunteers Australia, Darwin, NT, Australia
- Luciana M. Möller
- Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- Brad Norman
- 3Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia
- Brad Norman
- 4ECOCEAN Inc., Perth, WA, Australia
- Lauren Peel
- 5Pendoley Environmental, Booragoon, WA, Australia
- Kellie Pendoley
- 5Pendoley Environmental, Booragoon, WA, Australia
- Ben Radford
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Ben Radford
- 1School of Agriculture and Environment and the Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Samantha Reynolds
- 6School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
- Jason Rossendell
- 7Rio Tinto Iron Ore, Perth, WA, Australia
- Anton Tucker
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, WA, Australia
- David Waayers
- 8Environmental Resources Management Pty Ltd (ERM), Perth, WA, Australia
- Paul Whittock
- 5Pendoley Environmental, Booragoon, WA, Australia
- Phillipa Wilson
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- Phillipa Wilson
- 3Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia
- Sabrina Fossette
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, WA, Australia
- Sabrina Fossette
- 9School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1229803
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 11
Abstract
As the use of coastal and offshore environments expands, there is a need to better understand the exposure of marine megafauna to anthropogenic activities that potentially threaten their populations. Individual satellite telemetry studies are often hampered by small sample sizes, providing limited information on spatiotemporal distributions of migratory animals and their relationships to anthropogenic threats. We addressed this issue by synthesising satellite tracking data from 484 individuals of three taxonomic groups and six species; three marine turtle, two whale and one shark. The spatial overlap between taxa distributions and multiple anthropogenic activities was assessed as a proxy for the cumulative exposure of these taxa to anthropogenic threats (coastal modification, vessel strike, underwater noise, oil spill, bycatch, entanglement, and artificial light) across an area totalling 2,205,740 km2 off north-western Australia. Core exposure areas (top 50% of the distribution) encompassed ecologically important sites for all taxa, such as the Ningaloo and Pilbara regions, migratory routes for whales and sharks in offshore waters beyond Ningaloo Reef, and marine turtle nesting beaches at Barrow Island and Cape Lambert. Although areas of high exposure represented <14% of taxa distributions, we showed that no taxa occurred in the absence of threats and that even areas with existing spatial protections are experiencing high levels of exposure. Importantly, we developed a robust approach for documenting the potential exposure of marine species to a range of human activities at appropriate spatial scales to inform conservation management.
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