Inferring cetacean population densities from the absolute dynamic topography of the ocean in a hierarchical Bayesian framework.

ABSTRACT: We inferred the population densities of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) and short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in the Northeast Pacific Ocean as functions of the water-column's physical structure by implementing hierarchical models in a Bayesian framework. This approach allowed us to propagate the uncertainty of the field observations into the inference of species-habitat relationships and to generate spatially explicit population density predictions with reduced effects of sampling heterogeneity. Our hypothesis was that the large-scale spatial distributions of these two cetacean species respond primarily to ecological processes resulting from shoaling and outcropping of the pycnocline in regions of wind-forced upwelling and eddy-like circulation. Physically, these proces

SUBMITTER: Pardo MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4364891 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature