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Beyond marine mammal habitat modeling: applications for ecology and conservation
Habitat modeling for marine mammals has made tremendous advances in the past decade. The application of statistical models to elucidate relationships between species and their environment has become commonplace in the literature. While these models have provided some insights into marine mammal–habitat associations, the biological or ecological significance of many relationships remains frustratingly unclear. Only by combining these largely descriptive efforts with additional oceanographic and ecosystem studies will we begin to provide insights into the processes that govern marine mammal distribution and behavior and ultimately contribute to conservation. Emerging from an ongoing series of workshops on marine mammal habitat modeling (www.whoi.edu/sites/marinemammalmodeling), this ESR Theme Section showcases studies that emphasize the ecological and management implications of modeled species-environment relationships.
Articles belonging to this Theme Section were published upon completion in the respective issue of ESR. They are listed below as well as on the contents page of the respective issue of publication.
Guest Editors: Edward Gregr, Mark Baumgartner, Kristin Laidre, Daniel Palacios
CONTENT
Gregr EJ, Baumgartner MF, Laidre KL, Palacios DM
OVERVIEW: Marine mammal habitat models come of age: the emergence of ecological and management relevance
ESR 22:205-212 | Full text in pdf format 
Gilles A, Adler S, Kaschner K, Scheidat M, Siebert U
Modelling harbour porpoise seasonal density as a function of the German Bight environment: implications for management
ESR 14:157-169 | Full text in pdf format 
Corkeron PJ, Minton G, Collins T, Findlay K, Willson A, Baldwin R
Spatial models of sparse data to inform cetacean conservation planning: an example from Oman
ESR 15:39-52 | Full text in pdf format
Gerrodette T, Eguchi T
Precautionary design of a marine protected area based on a habitat model
ESR 15:159-166 | Full text in pdf format
Lambert E, MacLeod CD, Hall K, Brereton T, Dunn TE, Wall D, Jepson PD, Deaville R, Pierce GJ
Quantifying likely cetacean range shifts in response to global climatic change: implications for conservation strategies in a changing world
ESR 15:205-222 | Full text in pdf format
Gregr EJ
Insights into North Pacific right whale Eubalaena japonica habitat from historic whaling records
ESR 15:223-239 | Full text in pdf format
Becker EA, Foley DG, Forney KA, Barlow J, Redfern JV, Gentemann CL
Forecasting cetacean abundance patterns to enhance management decisions
ESR 16:97-112 | Full text in pdf format
Forney KA, Ferguson MC, Becker EA, Fiedler PC, Redfern JV, Barlow J, Vilchis IL, Ballance LT
Habitat-based spatial models of cetacean density in the eastern Pacific Ocean
ESR 16:113-133 | Full text in pdf format
Goetz KT, Montgomery RA, Ver Hoef JM, Hobbs RC, Johnson DS
Identifying essential summer habitat of the endangered beluga whale Delphinapterus leucas in Cook Inlet, Alaska
ESR 16:135-147 | Full text in pdf format
Wheeler B, Gilbert M, Rowe S
Definition of critical summer and fall habitat for bowhead whales in the eastern Canadian Arctic
ESR 17:1-16 | Full text in pdf format
Doniol-Valcroze T, Lesage V, Giard J, Michaud R
Challenges in marine mammal habitat modelling: evidence of multiple foraging habitats from the identification of feeding events in blue whales
ESR 17:255-268 | Full text in pdf format
Blasi MF, Boitani L
Modelling fine-scale distribution of the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus using physiographic features on Filicudi (southern Thyrrenian Sea, Italy)
ESR 17:269-288 | Full text in pdf format
Best BD, Halpin PN, Read AJ, Fujioka E, Good CP, LaBrecque EA, Schick RS, Roberts JJ, Hazen LJ, Qian SS, Palka DL, Garrison LP, McLellan WA
Online cetacean habitat modeling system for the US east coast and Gulf of Mexico
ESR 18:1-15 | Full text in pdf format
Keller CA, Garrison L, Baumstark R, Ward-Geiger LI, Hines E
Application of a habitat model to define calving habitat of the North Atlantic right whale in the southeastern United States
ESR 18:73-87 | Full text in pdf format
Pendleton DE, Sullivan PJ, Brown MW, Cole TVN, Good CP, Mayo CA, Monger BC, Phillips S, Record NR, Pershing AJ
Weekly predictions of North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis habitat reveal influence of prey abundance and seasonality of habitat preferences
ESR 18:147-161 | Full text in pdf format
Gallus A, Dähne M, Verfuß UK, Bräger S, Adler S, Siebert U, Benke H
Use of static passive acoustic monitoring to assess the status of the ‘Critically Endangered’ Baltic harbour porpoise in German waters
ESR 18:265-278 | Full text in pdf format
Palacios DM, Baumgartner MF, Laidre KL, Gregr EJ
AS WE SEE IT: Beyond correlation: integrating environmentally and behaviourally mediated processes in models of marine mammal distributions
ESR 22:191-203 | Full text in pdf format