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Home ranges of Guiana dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) (Cetacea: Delphinidae) in the Cananéia estuary, Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2010

Júlia Emi de Faria Oshima ,
Marcos César de Oliveira Santos ,
Mariel Bazzalo ,
Paulo André de Carvalho Flores  and
Fabiano do Nascimento Pupim
Júlia Emi de Faria Oshima*
Affiliation:
Projeto Atlantis, Laboratório de Biologia da Conservação de Cetáceos, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’ (UNESP), Campus Rio Claro, Avenida 24-A, 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil
Marcos César de Oliveira Santos
Affiliation:
Projeto Atlantis, Laboratório de Biologia da Conservação de Cetáceos, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’ (UNESP), Campus Rio Claro, Avenida 24-A, 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil
Mariel Bazzalo
Affiliation:
Carrera de Doctorado, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Paulo André de Carvalho Flores
Affiliation:
Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Mamíferos Aquáticos—CMA, ICMBio, Rod. Mauricio Sirotsky Sobrinho, s/n, km 02, Jurerê, Florianópolis, SC, 88053-700, Brazil
Fabiano do Nascimento Pupim
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências e Meio Ambiente, IGCE, Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’ (UNESP), Rio Claro, Avenida 24-A, 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: J.E.F. Oshima, Projeto Atlantis, Laboratório de Biologia da Conservação de Cetáceos, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’ (UNESP), Campus Rio Claro, Avenida 24-A, 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Home ranges of seven Guiana dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) (Van Bénéden, 1864) were studied in the Cananéia estuary (~25°03′S 47°55′W), south-eastern Brazil. Boat-based observations were conducted from May 2000 to July 2003 in ~132 km2 of protected inner waters. The photo-identification technique was used to follow naturally marked individuals through time and space. From a total of 138 catalogued individuals, five males and two females presented 20+ sightings and were used for home range estimation. Sightings were plotted and analysed in a Geographic Information System (GIS). With the ‘Home Range Tools’ extension the fixed kernel density estimator with band width (smoothing parameter) chosen via least squares cross-validation was performed for each individual. The fixed kernel method was used to estimate the non-parametric utility distribution of each dolphin, keeping band width (h) constant for a data set. The first polygons created by these parameters had an amoeboid shape and in some cases more than one centre of activity. The 95% home range estimated outlines varied from 1.6 to 22.9 km2 (7.9 ± 8.3 km2). This large interval shows strong evidences on individual variation in S. guianensis' home ranges. Several individuals showed small home ranges when compared to other cetacean species. An overlap of home ranges of different sizes and shapes were observed for Guiana dolphins with large range movements. Centres of activity were concentrated in the main entrance of the Cananéia estuary. This was a first attempt to understand the way S. guianensis uses the Cananéia estuary and such data are essential for conservation and management purposes.

Keywords

Sotalia guianensishome rangehabitat usekernel density estimator
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Special Issue 8: Marine Mammals , December 2010 , pp. 1641 - 1647
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

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