Habitat modelling of the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) in the breeding area of southern Brazil

Eduardo Pires Renault-Braga; Karina R.  Groch; Eduardo  Resende Secchi; Luciano  Dalla Rosa

doi:10.3989/scimar.05607.107

Autores/as

Eduardo Pires Renault-Braga Projeto Franca Austral, Instituto Australis de Pesquisa e Monitoramento Ambiental - Projeto Franca Austral, Instituto Australis de Pesquisa e Monitoramento Ambiental - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Oceanografia Biológica, Instituto de Oceanografia, Albania. Universidade Federal de Rio Grande https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5800-2859
Karina R. Groch Projeto Franca Austral, Instituto Australis de Pesquisa e Monitoramento Ambiental https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2034-3444
Eduardo Resende Secchi Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação da Megafauna Marinha, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG) - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Oceanografia Biológica, Instituto de Oceanografia, Albania. Universidade Federal de Rio Grande https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9087-9909
Luciano Dalla Rosa Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação da Megafauna Marinha, InstitutPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Oceanografia Biológica, Instituto de Oceanografia, Albania. Universidade Federal de Rio Grandeo de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG) - https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1583-6471

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.05607.107

Palabras clave:

cetáceos, uso del habitat, distribución, kernel, modelos aditivos generalizados, modelos hurdle

Resumen

Las ballenas francas australes migran estacionalmente entre áreas de reproducción y alimentación, siendo la costa sur de Brasil una de sus principales zonas de reproducción en el océano Atlántico. Observaciones recientes sugieren un notable descenso en los avistamientos de ballenas en esta región desde 2015. Desde ese año, los patrones de ocurrencia y abundancia de las ballenas francas en Brasil han cambiado. Para comprender mejor el uso histórico del hábitat y establecer una línea de base que permita comparar las tendencias de distribución futuras, modelamos la distribución de las ballenas utilizando datos de relevamientos aéreos realizados entre 2003 y 2012, abarcando el área desde Palhoça (SC) hasta Torres (RS), Brasil. Se emplearon modelos aditivos generalizados para evaluar la influencia de variables ambientales y espaciotemporales sobre la distribución de las ballenas. Nuestros resultados revelaron que la abundancia de ballenas sigue un ciclo de cuatro años, diferente del ciclo reproductivo de tres años previamente establecido. Se observaron mayores concentraciones de ballenas en áreas someras (menos de 10 metros de profundidad), con pendientes suaves y cercanas a desembocaduras de ríos. La región de Ribanceira/Ibiraquera presentó la mayor concentración de individuos. Estos hallazgos aportan información clave sobre las preferencias históricas de hábitat y constituyen una referencia valiosa para evaluar los cambios actuales y futuros en la distribución espacial de la especie a lo largo de la costa brasileña, apoyando así el desarrollo de estrategias de conservación específicas y planes de manejo más eficaces para la ballena franca austral en la región.

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