Demographic, ecological and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability

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1 Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
3 Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.2309v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Biogeography, Conservation Biology, Marine Biology
Keywords
abundance, body condition, disease, Hudson Bay, Pusa hispida, sea ice
Copyright
© 2016 Ferguson et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Ferguson SH, Young BG, Yurkowski DJ, Anderson R, Willing C, Nielsen O. 2016. Demographic, ecological and physiological responses of ringed seals to an abrupt decline in sea ice availability. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2309v1

Abstract

To assess whether demographic declines of Arctic species at the southern limit of their range will be gradual or punctuated, we compared large-scale environmental patterns including sea ice dynamics to ringed seal (Pusa hispida ) reproduction, body condition, recruitment, and stress in Hudson Bay from 2003-2013. Aerial surveys suggested a gradual decline in seal density from 1995-2013, with the lowest density occurring in 2013. Body condition decreased and stress (cortisol) increased over time in relation to longer open waterperiods. The 2010 open water period in Hudson Bay coincided with extremes in large-scale atmospheric patterns (NAO, AO, ENSO) resulting in the earliest spring breakup and the latest ice formation on record. The warming event was coincident with the highest stress levels and the lowest recorded ovulation rate and low pregnancy rate, few pups in the Inuit harvest, and observations of sick seals. We conclude that although negative demographic responses of Hudson Bay seals are occurring gradually with diminishing sea ice, a recent episodic environmental event played a significant role in a punctuated population decline.

Author Comment

This is a submission to PeerJ for review.

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