Modeling predator and prey hotspots: Management implications of baleen whale co-occurrence with krill in Central California.

ABSTRACT: As global ocean-bound commerce increases, managing human activities has become important in reducing conflict with threatened wildlife. This study investigates environmental factors determining abundance and distribution of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and their prey (Euphausia pacifica and Thysanoessa spinifera) in central California. We provide insights into environmental drivers of the ecology and distribution of these species, model whale distributions and determine coincident hotspots of whales and their prey that will help decrease human threats to whales and protect critical feeding habitat. We developed separate predictive models of whale abundances (using negative binomial regression on count data) and krill abundance (using a two-p

SUBMITTER: Rockwood RC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7340285 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature