Characterizing habitat suitability for a central-place forager in a dynamic marine environment.

ABSTRACT: Characterizing habitat suitability for a marine predator requires an understanding of the environmental heterogeneity and variability over the range in which a population moves during a particular life cycle. Female California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) are central-place foragers and are particularly constrained while provisioning their young. During this time, habitat selection is a function of prey availability and proximity to the rookery, which has important implications for reproductive and population success. We explore how lactating females may select habitat and respond to environmental variability over broad spatial and temporal scales within the California Current System. We combine near-real-time remotely sensed satellite oceanography, animal tracking data (n</

SUBMITTER: Briscoe DK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5838083 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature