Fine scale spatial variability in the influence of environmental cycles on the occurrence of dolphins at coastal sites.

ABSTRACT: Environmental cycles often influence the presence of animals, creating patterns at different temporal scales, which may mean that their effects overlap and/or interact. Interactions between diel and seasonal cycles have been reported to influence fish behaviour but little is known about such interactions in marine top predators. Here, we studied the combined effect of seasonal, tidal and diel cycles on the occurrence of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) within a Marine Protected Area in Scotland. Our analyses were based on echolocation detections from passive acoustic devices (CPODs) deployed at three coastal sites between 2010 and 2016. We described patterns of dolphins' occurrence using circular statistics and then used generalised additive mixed models to explore the relative imp

SUBMITTER: Fernandez-Betelu O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6385188 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature