Moving through a minimum of three different national waters: assessing habitat predictability to guide transboundary conservation of endangered species
Dr Maite Louzao1, Dr Maria Carmen Hernández6, David García2, Karine Delord3, Dr Henri Weimerskirch3, Dr Thierry Micol4, Dr José Manuel Arcos5
1AZTI, Pasaia, España, 2Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Department, University of the Basque Country, Donostia, Spain, 3 Islands Biodiversity Research Initiative (IRBI), , Spain, 4Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UMR 7372 – Université de La Rochelle, Villiers-en-Bois, France, 5LPO/ Birdlife France – Service Etudes du Patrimoine Naturel, Rochefort, France, 6SEO/BirdLife, Barcelona, Spain
Wide ranging animals travel through vast marine areas during their annual cycle visiting different national waters. This fast-moving behavior implies that conservation measures to be effective would require transboundary actions. In the case of endangered species, the implementation of transnational protection measurements are urgently needed in the face of declining populations. This is the case of the most threatened European seabird, the Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, that is expected to go extinct in 61 years. Currently it is possible to assess the large-scale and year-round distribution of almost any seabird species using biologging devices such as global location sensing (GLS). Here, we determined the critical foraging areas during breeding and wintering, as well as the migratory pathways of the southern population of Balearic shearwaters. Specifically, we aimed at determining whether critical foraging areas of Balearic shearwaters were predictable over time. We used an innovative approach based on a hidden Markov chain model, computed via particle filter algorithm, to identify critical foraging areas throughout the annual cycle. Our results suggested that Balearic shearwaters visited a minimum of three different national waters during breeding or wintering (Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Portugal and France). Despite annual differences, the critical areas were recurrently visited year after year. These results highlight the need of transboundary conservation efforts throughout the annual cycle of this highly threatened species.
Biography:
Dr. Maite Louzao is an expert in ecological modeling, spatial ecology, oceanography and population dynamics in application of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management and different coservation frameworks. She is currently Principal Investigator of the CHALLENGES project (Pelagic changing ecosystems from predators’ perspective: advancing conservation efforts in southern European waters). She has participated in more than 32 international and national projects and she has published 43 scientific papers, some of them have been published in top journals such as Science, Current Biology, Ecology, among others. She has contributed extensively to the international dissemination of her research career by participaing in 89 international and national conferences, in addition to the preparation of technical reports, articles for the general public and has contributed to book chapters. Furthermore, she participates in different national (Expert Group of the Spanish Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Scientific Committee of the Spanish Ornithological Society) and international (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea). Regarding her training capacity, she has supervised a doctoral thesis defended in February 2016 and she is currently supervising two, in addition to 5 master projects and different internships.