Species aggregation models resolve essential foraging habitat: Implications for conservation and management.

ABSTRACT: Species aggregations are a culmination of behavioral events arising from an array of biophysical interactions, dynamically shifting in space and time. Prediction of species' aggregation dynamics remains a challenge in studies of their distribution patterns. Species distribution models (SDMs) are statistical tools for understanding spatial patterns of marine biodiversity, ranging from essential species habitat, assessing fisheries bycatch, and projecting future distribution changes. SDMs involving pelagic species abundance generally do not typically resolve aggregation patterns. We use a 20-year observation record of seabird species aggregations, with seabirds being the most easily quantified "pelagic" species, to develop SDMs and a regional ocean modeling system to identify physical driver

SUBMITTER: Santora JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12223939 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature