(Press-News.org) Contact information: Tim Stephens
stephens@ucsc.edu
831-459-2495
University of California - Santa Cruz
Study maps human impacts on top ocean predators along US west coast
Animal tracking data combined with mapping of human activities reveals high impact areas where efforts to reduce impacts would be most effective
	
The California Current System along the U.S. west coast is among the richest ecosystems in the world, driven by nutrient input from coastal upwelling and supporting a great diversity of marine life. Like coastal regions in general, it is also heavily impacted by human activities. A new study led by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, reveals areas along the west coast where human impacts are highest on marine predators such as whales, seals, seabirds, and turtles.
	
The study, published October 28 in Nature Communications, found that many of the high impact areas are within the boundaries of National Marine Sanctuaries. This means there are good opportunities for improving management strategies, according to first author Sara Maxwell, who led the study as a graduate student in ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz and is now a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station. 
	
"The sanctuaries are located close to the coast in areas where there are a lot of human activities and a lot of marine life, so it's not surprising that we see a lot of impacts there," Maxwell said, noting that oil spills were a big concern when the sanctuaries were established, and many do not limit activities such as fishing, although they are actively engaged in managing industries such as shipping. 
	
"With the sanctuaries already in place, we have an opportunity to increase protections. The results of this study allow us to be more specific in where we focus management efforts so that we can minimize the economic impact on people," she said. 
	
There are five National Marine Sanctuaries along the west coast, covering nearly 15,000 square miles. A proposed expansion of the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries would extend protections north to Point Arena, a key area identified in the study.
	
Marine mammals and other predators are critical to the health of marine ecosystems. The study used tracking data for eight species of marine predators: blue whales, humpback whales, northern elephant seals, California sea lions, black-footed and Laysan albatrosses, sooty shearwaters, and leatherback sea turtles. These are among the 23 species whose movements have been tracked since 2000 as part of the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) program. The eight species included in the new study are ecologically important but are not commercially exploited, Maxwell said.
	
The TOPP studies showed that many marine predators travel thousands of miles every year, yet often concentrate within small-scale "hotspots" to breed or feed on fish and other prey. Many such hotspots are found within the California Current System. 
	
Maxwell and her coauthors combined the TOPP tracking data with a database of human impacts in the California Current System that was developed by a group led by coauthor Benjamin Halpern at UC Santa Barbara. The relative impact on each species was determined for each of 24 stressors associated with human activities, such as fishing, shipping, climate change, and pollution. The analysis yielded maps showing where the greatest impacts on each species are likely to be. 
	
"Areas where key habitats and human impacts overlap represent important areas for conservation efforts," Maxwell said. "In other cases, areas of high human activities are not key habitats for predators. As a result, we can  maximize both conservation of marine predators and human uses that our coastal communities depend on."
	
The study suggests that protecting key habitat without considering human uses may result in missed opportunities for sustainable resource use. "Having this detailed spatial information will help us move toward a more sustainable management approach," said coauthor Elliott Hazen, a research biologist at UCSC and the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center.
	
Providing information to support management and policy decisions was one of the goals of the TOPP program, which was conceived by coauthors Dan Costa at UC Santa Cruz, Steven Bograd at NOAA, and Barbara Block at Stanford. TOPP researchers used sophisticated tags with satellite- or light-based geolocation capabilities to track the movements of top predators throughout the Pacific Ocean.
	
"A major component of the TOPP program was to identify important conservation areas of the North Pacific Ocean. This paper is a significant step forward in increasing our awareness of the 'blue Serengeti' that lies just off the west coast of the U.S.," Costa said.
	
INFORMATION:
	
The new study involved a team of 23 researchers at 19 institutions. Coauthors affiliated with UC Santa Cruz include Elliott Hazen, Barry Nickel, Nicole Teutschel, Michelle Kappes, Jason Hassrick, Robert Henry, Patrick Robinson, and Daniel Costa. Funding for this work was provided by the Sloan Foundation's Census of Marine Life program and Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station and Center for Ocean Solutions. TOPP research was funded by the Sloan, Packard, and Moore Foundations.
	
Study maps human impacts on top ocean predators along US west coast
Animal tracking data combined with mapping of human activities reveals high impact areas where efforts to reduce impacts would be most effective
2013-10-28
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Keeping emotions in check may not always benefit psychological health
2013-10-28
Keeping emotions in check may not always benefit psychological health
	Being able to regulate your emotions is important for well-being, but new research suggests that a common emotion regulation strategy called "cognitive reappraisal" ...
DOE rooftop challenge winners offer energy, cost savings
2013-10-28
DOE rooftop challenge winners offer energy, cost savings
If widely adopted, the energy savings would be like taking 700,000 cars off the road every year
	RICHLAND, Wash. – New super-efficient rooftop units that heat and cool commercial buildings offer ...
El Niño is becoming more active
2013-10-28
El Niño is becoming more active
	
A new approach to analyzing paleo-climate reconstructions of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon resolves disagreements and reveals that ENSO activity during the 20th century has been unusually ...
Breaking news: GSA session to address flooding in Colorado's front range region
2013-10-28
Breaking news: GSA session to address flooding in Colorado's front range region
The 2013 Colorado flood event -- a perfect storm hits a dynamic landscape -- causes, processes, and effects
	Boulder, CO, USA – In response to devastation caused by unprecedented heavy ...
Regular cocaine and cannabis use may trigger addictive behaviors
2013-10-28
Regular cocaine and cannabis use may trigger addictive behaviors
	New cocaine and cannabis research reveals that regular cannabis users have increased levels of impulsive behaviour. It had previously been argued that this increased impulsivity after cannabis administration was only experienced ...
Your pain, my gain: Feeling pleasure over the misfortune of those you envy is biological
2013-10-28
Your pain, my gain: Feeling pleasure over the misfortune of those you envy is biological
	PRINCETON, NJ—Mina Cikara found her thesis when she wore a Boston Red Sox hat to a New York Yankees baseball game. ...
Virtually numbed: Immersive video gaming alters real-life experience
2013-10-28
Virtually numbed: Immersive video gaming alters real-life experience
Role-playing video games can alter our experience of reality and numb us to important real-life experiences, study finds
	Spending time immersed as a virtual character or avatar in a role-playing ...
No running for the well-heeled
2013-10-28
No running for the well-heeled
Being down at heel could save your knees
	If you often find yourself running after a bus, escaping a burning building or taking part in competitive athletics in high-heeled footwear, you may be storing up knee problems for later in life, according ...
Pain processes in tennis elbow illuminated by PET scanning
2013-10-28
Pain processes in tennis elbow illuminated by PET scanning
	Physiological processes in soft tissue pain such as chronic tennis elbow can be explored using diagnostic imaging methods. This is demonstrated by researchers from Uppsala University and the ...
Urban underground holds sustainable energy
2013-10-28
Urban underground holds sustainable energy
	
Vast energy sources are slumbering below big cities. Sustaina-ble energies for heating in winter and cooling in summer may be extracted from heated groundwater aquifers. Researchers from KIT and ETH Zurich developed ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
New post-hoc analysis shows patients whose clinicians had access to GeneSight results for depression treatment are more likely to feel better sooner
First transplant in pigs of modified porcine kidneys with human renal organoids
Reinforcement learning and blockchain: new strategies to secure the Internet of Medical Things
Autograph: A higher-accuracy and faster framework for compute-intensive programs
Expansion microscopy helps chart the planktonic universe
Small bat hunts like lions – only better
As Medicaid work requirements loom, U-M study finds links between coverage, better health and higher employment
Manifestations of structural racism and inequities in cardiovascular health across US neighborhoods
Prescribing trends of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists for type 2 diabetes or obesity
Continuous glucose monitoring frequency and glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes
Bimodal tactile tomography with bayesian sequential palpation for intracavitary microstructure profiling and segmentation
IEEE study reviews novel photonics breakthroughs of 2024
New method for intentional control of bionic prostheses
Obesity treatment risks becoming a ‘two-tier system’, researchers warn
Researchers discuss gaps, obstacles and solutions for contraception
Disrupted connectivity of the brainstem ascending reticular activating system nuclei-left parahippocampal gyrus could reveal mechanisms of delirium following basal ganglia intracerebral hemorrhage
Federated metadata-constrained iRadonMAP framework with mutual learning for all-in-one computed tomography imaging
‘Frazzled’ fruit flies help unravel how neural circuits stay wired
Improving care for life-threatening blood clots
Yonsei University develops a new era of high-voltage solid-state batteries
Underweight and unbalanced: Gut microbial diversity in underweight Japanese women
Astringent, sharper mind: Flavanols trigger brain activity for memory and stress response
New editorial urges clinicians to address sex-based disparities in sepsis treatment
Researchers at MIT develop new nanoparticles that stimulate the immune system to attack ovarian tumors
Opening the door to a vaccine for multiple childhood infections
New clue to ALS and FTD: Faulty protein disrupts brain’s ‘brake’ system
Detailed map of US air-conditioning usage shows who can beat the heat — and who can’t
An electronic fiber for stretchable sensing
New image captures spooky bat signal in the sky
Cobalt single atom-phosphate functionalized reduced graphene oxide/perylenetetracarboxylic acid nanosheet heterojunctions for efficiently photocatalytic H2O2 production
[Press-News.org] Study maps human impacts on top ocean predators along US west coastAnimal tracking data combined with mapping of human activities reveals high impact areas where efforts to reduce impacts would be most effective