Integration of a Miniaturized Conductivity Sensor into an Animal-Borne Instrument
Abstract
Habitat changes affecting marine mammals can range from small scale cyclic changes (e.g. tides) and natural physical processes (e.g. fronts and eddies) to changes on an ecological scale that range from years to decades and from tens to thousands of kilometers. These habitat changes can be natural or anthropogenic (e.g. pollution, sound). For example, short-term changes of the physical environment can cause changes in marine mammal populations by affecting pup survival, while long-term unidirectional changes can result in permanent habitat change or even habitat loss that may have a significant impact on entire populations. Population consequences of the foraging behavior of marine mammals depend on the availability of prey, which in turn is in part driven by the way animals react to the quality and dynamics of their immediate environment at the scale they are able to sample it. Predicting how marine mammal populations respond to habitat changes is also essential for developing conservation management strategies. To investigate such links, we need the appropriate environmental information at the relevant scales and, while large scale monitoring of environmental change can be accomplished cost-effectively by approaches such as remote sensing, getting fine scale information from the marine mammal s immediate environment requires local in-situ monitoring.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA602536
Entities
People
- Lars Boehme
- Phil Lovell
- Robin Pascal
Organizations
- University of St Andrews