Ocean warming threatens southern right whale population recovery

Macarena Agrelo; Fábio G Daura-Jorge; Victoria J Rowntree; Mariano Sironi; Philip S Hammond; Simon N Ingram; Carina F Marón; Florencia O Vilches; Jon Seger; Roger Payne; Paulo C Simões-Lopes

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abh2823

Ocean warming threatens southern right whale population recovery

Macarena Agrelo^*, Fábio G Daura-Jorge, Victoria J Rowntree, Mariano Sironi, Philip S Hammond, Simon N Ingram, Carina F Marón, Florencia O Vilches, Jon Seger, Roger Payne, Paulo C Simões-Lopes

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Whales contribute to marine ecosystem functioning, and they may play a role in mitigating climate change and supporting the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) population, a keystone prey species that sustains the entire Southern Ocean (SO) ecosystem. By analyzing a five-decade (1971–2017) data series of individual southern right whales (SRWs; Eubalaena australis) photo-identified at Península Valdés, Argentina, we found a marked increase in whale mortality rates following El Niño events. By modeling how the population responds to changes in the frequency and intensity of El Niño events, we found that such events are likely to impede SRW population recovery and could even cause population decline. Such outcomes have the potential to disrupt food-web interactions in the SO, weakening that ecosystem’s contribution to the mitigation of climate change at a global scale.

Original language	English
Article number	eabh2823
Number of pages	8
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	7
Issue number	42
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abh2823
Publication status	Published - 15 Oct 2021

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10.1126/sciadv.abh2823Licence: CC BY-NC

Agrelo_2021_Sci-Adv_Ocean-warming_CC
Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).
Final published version, 335 KBLicence: CC BY-NC

Ocean warming threatens southern right whale population recovery (dataset)
Hammond, P. S. (Creator), Bitbucket, 2021
https://bitbucket.org/maca_agrelo/abh2823-data/src/master/
Dataset

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title = "Ocean warming threatens southern right whale population recovery",

abstract = "Whales contribute to marine ecosystem functioning, and they may play a role in mitigating climate change and supporting the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) population, a keystone prey species that sustains the entire Southern Ocean (SO) ecosystem. By analyzing a five-decade (1971–2017) data series of individual southern right whales (SRWs; Eubalaena australis) photo-identified at Pen{\'i}nsula Vald{\'e}s, Argentina, we found a marked increase in whale mortality rates following El Ni{\~n}o events. By modeling how the population responds to changes in the frequency and intensity of El Ni{\~n}o events, we found that such events are likely to impede SRW population recovery and could even cause population decline. Such outcomes have the potential to disrupt food-web interactions in the SO, weakening that ecosystem{\textquoteright}s contribution to the mitigation of climate change at a global scale.",

author = "Macarena Agrelo and Daura-Jorge, {F{\'a}bio G} and Rowntree, {Victoria J} and Mariano Sironi and Hammond, {Philip S} and Ingram, {Simon N} and Mar{\'o}n, {Carina F} and Vilches, {Florencia O} and Jon Seger and Roger Payne and Sim{\~o}es-Lopes, {Paulo C}",

note = "Funding: This work was supported by CAPES doctoral scholarship (M.A.), CAPES-PRINT grant 88887.370641/2019-00 (M.A.), CNPQ research grant 305573/2013-6 (P.C.S.-L.), and CNPQ research grant 407190/2012-0 (F.G.D.-J.). Funding for aerial surveys since 1971 was provided by numerous donors through Ocean Alliance and Instituto de Conservaci{\'o}n de Ballenas such as Wildlife Conservation Society, National Geographic Society, World Wildlife Fund, Alfredo Fortabat Foundation, Turner Foundation, Canadian Whale Institute, I. Kerr, A. L. de Fortabat, S. Haney, A. and J. Moss, A. Morse, P. Singh, P. Logan, N. Griffis, and C. Walcott. ",

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AU - Agrelo, Macarena

AU - Daura-Jorge, Fábio G

AU - Rowntree, Victoria J

AU - Sironi, Mariano

AU - Hammond, Philip S

AU - Ingram, Simon N

AU - Marón, Carina F

AU - Vilches, Florencia O

AU - Seger, Jon

AU - Payne, Roger

AU - Simões-Lopes, Paulo C

N1 - Funding: This work was supported by CAPES doctoral scholarship (M.A.), CAPES-PRINT grant 88887.370641/2019-00 (M.A.), CNPQ research grant 305573/2013-6 (P.C.S.-L.), and CNPQ research grant 407190/2012-0 (F.G.D.-J.). Funding for aerial surveys since 1971 was provided by numerous donors through Ocean Alliance and Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas such as Wildlife Conservation Society, National Geographic Society, World Wildlife Fund, Alfredo Fortabat Foundation, Turner Foundation, Canadian Whale Institute, I. Kerr, A. L. de Fortabat, S. Haney, A. and J. Moss, A. Morse, P. Singh, P. Logan, N. Griffis, and C. Walcott.

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N2 - Whales contribute to marine ecosystem functioning, and they may play a role in mitigating climate change and supporting the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) population, a keystone prey species that sustains the entire Southern Ocean (SO) ecosystem. By analyzing a five-decade (1971–2017) data series of individual southern right whales (SRWs; Eubalaena australis) photo-identified at Península Valdés, Argentina, we found a marked increase in whale mortality rates following El Niño events. By modeling how the population responds to changes in the frequency and intensity of El Niño events, we found that such events are likely to impede SRW population recovery and could even cause population decline. Such outcomes have the potential to disrupt food-web interactions in the SO, weakening that ecosystem’s contribution to the mitigation of climate change at a global scale.

AB - Whales contribute to marine ecosystem functioning, and they may play a role in mitigating climate change and supporting the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) population, a keystone prey species that sustains the entire Southern Ocean (SO) ecosystem. By analyzing a five-decade (1971–2017) data series of individual southern right whales (SRWs; Eubalaena australis) photo-identified at Península Valdés, Argentina, we found a marked increase in whale mortality rates following El Niño events. By modeling how the population responds to changes in the frequency and intensity of El Niño events, we found that such events are likely to impede SRW population recovery and could even cause population decline. Such outcomes have the potential to disrupt food-web interactions in the SO, weakening that ecosystem’s contribution to the mitigation of climate change at a global scale.

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DO - 10.1126/sciadv.abh2823

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VL - 7

JO - Science Advances

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M1 - eabh2823

ER -

Ocean warming threatens southern right whale population recovery

Abstract

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Ocean warming threatens southern right whale population recovery (dataset)

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