Quantifying the age structure of free-ranging delphinid populations: Testing the accuracy of Unoccupied Aerial System photogrammetry.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the population health status of long-lived and slow-reproducing species is critical for their management. However, it can take decades with traditional monitoring techniques to detect population-level changes in demographic parameters. Early detection of the effects of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on vital rates would aid in forecasting changes in population dynamics and therefore inform management efforts. Changes in vital rates strongly correlate with deviations in population growth, highlighting the need for novel approaches that can provide early warning signs of population decline (e.g., changes in age structure). We tested a novel and frequentist approach, using Unoccupied Aerial System (UAS) photogrammetry, to assess the population age structure of small d

SUBMITTER: Vivier F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10293808 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature