Increased Yangtze finless porpoise presence in urban Wuhan waters of the Yangtze River during fishing closures.

ABSTRACT: Wuhan, a highly urbanized and rapidly growing region within China's Yangtze Economic Zone, has historically been identified as a gap area for the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) based on daytime visual surveys. However, there has been a noticeable increase in porpoise sightings since 2020. This study employed passive acoustic monitoring to investigate porpoise distribution in Wuhan between 2020 and 2022. Generalized linear models were used to explore the relationship between shipping, hydrological patterns, light intensity, and porpoise biosonar activity. Over 603 days of effective monitoring, the daily positive rate for porpoise biosonar detection reached 43%, with feeding-related buzz signals accounting for 55% of all po

SUBMITTER: Wang ZT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10994980 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature