Framework for mapping key areas for marine megafauna to inform Marine Spatial Planning: The Falkland Islands case study

Abstract

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is becoming a key management approach throughout the world. The process includes the mapping of how humans and wildlife use the marine environment to inform the development of management measures. An integrated multi-species approach to identifying key areas is important for MSP because it allows managers a global representation of an area, enabling them to see where management can have the most impact for biodiversity protection. However, multi-species analysis remains challenging. This paper presents a methodological framework for mapping key areas for marine megafauna (seabirds, pinnipeds, cetaceans) by incorporating different data types across multiple species. The framework includes analyses of tracking data and observation survey data, applying analytical steps according to the type of data available during each year quarter for each species. It produces core-use area layers at the species level, then combines these layers to create megafauna core-use area layers. The framework was applied in the Falkland Islands. The study gathered over 750,000 tracking and at-sea observation locations covering an equivalent of 5,495 data days between 1998 and 2015 for 36 species. The framework provides a step-by-step implementation protocol, replicable across geographic scales and transferable to multiple taxa. R scripts are provided. Common repositories, such as the Birdlife International Tracking Database, are invaluable tools, providing a secure platform for storing and accessing spatial data to apply the methodological framework. This provides managers with data necessary to enhance MSP efforts and marine conservation worldwide.

Translating Marine Animal Tracking Data into Conservation Policy and Management

“…The analyses were conducted by BirdLife International in collaboration with the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (Falkland Government). The results of this study informed both the establishment of a Marine Spatial Plan for the Falkland waters [16] and the Assessment of Fishing Closure Areas as sites for wider marine management in the Falkland Islands [17] (example 4). Information on at-sea distributions of albatrosses and large petrels, mainly from tracking studies, has also been used at a global scale by the multilateral Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) in a framework for assessing and prioritising the bycatch risk from different fisheries [18].…”

“…Tracking of seabirds (and seals) was used to identify the most important areas for these species in the waters around the Falkland Islands [16]. The analyses were conducted by BirdLife International in collaboration with the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (Falkland Government).…”

“…In some examples several taxa were tracked but only one icon is shown for clarity. [71] and, for the medium-sized to large species, a major threat is incidental mortality (bycatch) in commercial fisheries [16]. Some of the earliest deployments of satellite-transmitters on seabirds were made on wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) in South Georgia [72] and have continued to recent years (example 1, Figure 1).…”

“…As a direct consequence, in 1998 CCAMLR implemented a closed fishing season for toothfish, which resulted in a near tenfold reduction in seabird bycatch rates. This fishery remains an exemplar of effective ecosystem-based approach to management [74] with further bycatch mitigation measures being adopted as subsequent tracking results have emerged [16]. Photo credit: Richard Phillips.…”

Identification of marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas for penguins around the South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands

“…However, PTT‐Argos‐based location data from penguins are often unsuitable for ARS estimation since trips and, therefore, within‐trip behaviors cannot be readily identified, due to the typically variable and often low‐accuracy (and infrequent) positions. We tested the performance of the ARS method for penguin tracking data (slightly modified to provide the median scale, rather than the average as was in the original scripts), by comparing the results from the ARS method applied to GPS data only (Table ) with those obtained by setting fixed h‐values that varied between 1 and 10 km, with 1‐km steps (); the maximum value was arbitrary and set based on results obtained in other studies of short‐ranged species (e.g., shags, gulls, and other penguins; Augé et al., ). Fourth, we relaxed the constraint of a fixed 50% kernel utilization distribution (UD%) for delineating the core use area of an individual bird (e.g., Soanes, Arnould, Dodd, Sumner, & Green, ).…”