Ten guiding principles for the delineation of priority habitat for endangered small cetaceans |
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Authors: | Peter S Ross Jay Barlow Thomas A Jefferson Brendan E Hickie Tatiana Lee Christina MacFarquhar E Christien Parsons Kimberly N Riehl Naomi A Rose Elisabeth Slooten Chia-Yang Tsai John Y Wang Andrew J Wright Shih Chu Yang |
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Institution: | 1. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, P.O. Box 6000, Sidney, BC V8L 4B2, Canada;2. Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, 3333 North Torrey Pines Court, La Jolla, CA 92037-1022, USA;3. Clymene Enterprises, 5495 Camino Playa Malaga, San Diego, CA 92124, USA;4. Trent University, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, Canada;5. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 201-401 Burrard St., Vancouver, BC V6C 2S4, Canada;6. Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, 12 F-86 Chonching South Road Section 1, Taipei 10045, Taiwan;g George Mason University, MSN 5F2, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444, USA;h Humane Society International, 700 Professional Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20879, USA;i University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand;j Changhua Environmental Protection Union, 354 Chung-Shan, Lukang, Changhua 505, Taiwan;k National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark;l FormosaCetus Research and Conservation Group, 310-7250 Yonge St., Thornhill ON L4J 7X1, Canada |
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Abstract: | The adoption of endangered species laws in various nations has intensified efforts to better understand, and protect, at-risk species or populations, and their habitats. In many countries, delineating a portion of a species' habitat as particularly worthy of protection has become a mantra of these laws. Unfortunately, the laws themselves often provide scientists and managers with few, if any, guidelines for how to define such habitat. Conservationists and scientists may view protecting part of the habitat of an endangered species as an ineffectual compromise, while managers may be under pressure to allow a range of human activities within the species' habitat. In the case of small cetaceans, establishing boundaries for such areas can also be complicated by their mobility, the fluid nature of their environment, and the often ephemeral nature of their habitat features. The convergence of multiple human impacts in coastal waters around the world is impacting many small cetaceans (and other species) that rely on these areas for feeding, reproducing, and resting. The ten guiding principles presented here provide a means to characterize the habitat needs of small, at-risk cetaceans, and serve as a basis for the delineation of ‘priority habitat’ boundaries. This conceptual approach should facilitate a constructive discourse between scientists and managers engaged in efforts to recover endangered species. The degree to which the recovery of an at-risk species can be reconciled with sustainable economic activity will depend in part on how well these principles are incorporated into the delineation of priority habitat. |
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Keywords: | Cetaceans Conservation Endangered Habitat Marine mammals Species at risk |
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