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A sampling, exposure and receptor framework for identifying factors that modulate behavioural responses to disturbance in cetaceans.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Booth, CG; Brannan, N; Dunlop, R; Friedlander, A; Isojunno, S; Miller, P; Quick, N; Southall, B; Pirotta, E
Published in: The Journal of animal ecology
October 2022

The assessment of behavioural disturbance in cetacean species (e.g. resulting from exposure to anthropogenic sources such as military sonar, seismic surveys, or pile driving) is important for effective conservation and management. Disturbance effects can be informed by Behavioural Response Studies (BRSs), involving either controlled exposure experiments (CEEs) where noise exposure conditions are presented deliberately to meet experimental objectives or in opportunistic contexts where ongoing activities are monitored in a strategic manner. In either context, animal-borne sensors or in situ observations can provide information on individual exposure and disturbance responses. The past 15 years of research have greatly expanded our understanding of behavioural responses to noise, including hundreds of experiments in nearly a dozen cetacean species. Many papers note limited sample sizes, required knowledge of baseline behaviour prior to exposure and the importance of contextual factors modulating behavioural responses, all of which in combination can lead to sampling biases, even for well-designed research programs. It is critical to understand these biases to robustly identify responses. This ensures outcomes of BRSs help inform predictions of how anthropogenic disturbance impacts individuals and populations. Our approach leverages concepts from the animal behaviour literature focused on helping to avoid sampling bias by considering what shapes an animal's response. These factors include social, experience, genetic and natural changes in responsiveness. We developed and applied a modified version of this framework to synthesise current knowledge on cetacean response in the context of effects observed across marine and terrestrial taxa. This new 'Sampling, Exposure, Receptor' framework (SERF) identifies 43 modulating factors, highlights potential biases, and assesses how these vary across selected focal species. In contrast to studies that identified variation in 'Exposure' factors as a key concern, our analysis indicated that factors relating to 'Sampling' (e.g. deploying tags on less evasive individuals, which biases selection of subjects), and 'Receptor' (e.g. health status or coping style) have the greatest potential for weakening the desired broad representativeness of BRSs. Our assessment also highlights how potential biases could be addressed with existing datasets or future developments.

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Published In

The Journal of animal ecology

DOI

EISSN

1365-2656

ISSN

0021-8790

Publication Date

October 2022

Volume

91

Issue

10

Start / End Page

1948 / 1960

Related Subject Headings

  • Noise
  • Ecology
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Animals
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences
 

Citation

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Booth, C. G., Brannan, N., Dunlop, R., Friedlander, A., Isojunno, S., Miller, P., … Pirotta, E. (2022). A sampling, exposure and receptor framework for identifying factors that modulate behavioural responses to disturbance in cetaceans. The Journal of Animal Ecology, 91(10), 1948–1960. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13787
Booth, Cormac G., Naomi Brannan, Rebecca Dunlop, Ari Friedlander, Saana Isojunno, Patrick Miller, Nicola Quick, Brandon Southall, and Enrico Pirotta. “A sampling, exposure and receptor framework for identifying factors that modulate behavioural responses to disturbance in cetaceans.The Journal of Animal Ecology 91, no. 10 (October 2022): 1948–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13787.
Booth CG, Brannan N, Dunlop R, Friedlander A, Isojunno S, Miller P, et al. A sampling, exposure and receptor framework for identifying factors that modulate behavioural responses to disturbance in cetaceans. The Journal of animal ecology. 2022 Oct;91(10):1948–60.
Booth, Cormac G., et al. “A sampling, exposure and receptor framework for identifying factors that modulate behavioural responses to disturbance in cetaceans.The Journal of Animal Ecology, vol. 91, no. 10, Oct. 2022, pp. 1948–60. Epmc, doi:10.1111/1365-2656.13787.
Booth CG, Brannan N, Dunlop R, Friedlander A, Isojunno S, Miller P, Quick N, Southall B, Pirotta E. A sampling, exposure and receptor framework for identifying factors that modulate behavioural responses to disturbance in cetaceans. The Journal of animal ecology. 2022 Oct;91(10):1948–1960.
Journal cover image

Published In

The Journal of animal ecology

DOI

EISSN

1365-2656

ISSN

0021-8790

Publication Date

October 2022

Volume

91

Issue

10

Start / End Page

1948 / 1960

Related Subject Headings

  • Noise
  • Ecology
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Animals
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences