Role of sociality in the response of killer whales to an additive mortality event.

ABSTRACT: In highly social top predators, group living is an ecological strategy that enhances individual fitness, primarily through increased foraging success. Additive mortality events across multiple social groups in populations may affect the social structure, and therefore the fitness, of surviving individuals. This hypothesis was examined in a killer whale (Orcinus orca) population that experienced a 7-y period of severe additive mortality due to lethal interactions with illegal fishing vessels. Using both social and demographic analyses conducted on a unique long-term dataset encompassing periods before, during, and after this event, results indicated a decrease in both the number and the mean strength of associations of surviving individuals during the additive mortality period. A positive s

SUBMITTER: Busson M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6575568 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature