Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T00:11:51.176Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sampling interval for measurements of estuarine dolphins' (Sotalia guianensis) behaviour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Rose Emília Macedo De Queiroz  and
Renata Gonçalves Ferreira
Rose Emília Macedo De Queiroz*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Fisiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal/RN, Brazil
Renata Gonçalves Ferreira
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal/RN, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Rose Emília Macedo de Queiroz, Departamento de Fisiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal/RN, Brazil email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Intervals between sampling are a major concern in studies of behaviour. Objective choices compromise accurate definition, collection of enough data and avoidance of time dependence between samples. This paper tests whether significant differences occur in the proportion of activities of Sotalia guianensis when the protocols of observation using different intervals between registers are varied. The study was carried out at Formosa Bay, south coast of Rio Grande do Norte over a period of 40 days (251 hours). The results show that the use of different intervals of data registering result in non-significant differences in the quantification of behaviour. However, a tendency to over-estimate forage and under-estimate travel at 2 minutes relative to 8 minutes intervals was detected. This warns of the need to define a proper interval between behavioural sampling and addresses the question of the adoption of a common protocol for fast and continuous assessment of different estuarine dolphin populations throughout the Brazilian coast.

Keywords

sampling intervalmeasurementsestuarine dolphins' (Sotalia guianensis) behaviour
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 2 , January 2009 , e53
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Altmann, J. (1974) Observational study of behaviour: sampling methods. Behaviour 48, 227–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azevedo, A.F., Oliveira, A.M., Viana, S.C. and Sluys, M.V. (2007) Habitat use by marine tucuxis (Sotalia guianensis) (Cetacea: Delphinidae) in Guanabara Bay, south-eastern Brazil. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 87, 201–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballance, T. (1992) Habitat use patterns and ranges of the bottlenose dolphin in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Marine Mammal Science 8, 262–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constantine, R., Brunton, D.H. and Dennis, T. (2004) Dolphin-watching tour boats change bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) behaviour. Biological Conservation 117, 299–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daura-Jorge, F.G., Rossi-Santos, M.R., Wedekin, L.L. and Simões-Lopes, P.C. (2007) Behavioral patterns and movement intensity of Sotalia guianensis (P.J. van Bénéden) (Cetecea, Delphinidae) in two different areas on the Brazilian coast. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 24, 265–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daura-Jorge, F.G., Wedekin, L.L., Piacentini, V.Q. and Simões-Lopes, P.C. (2005) Seasonal and daily patterns of groups size, cohesion and activity of the estuarine dolphin, Sotalia guianensis (P.J. van Bénéden) (Cetacea, Delphinidae), in Southern Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 22, 1014–1021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engel, J. (1996) Choosing an appropriate sample interval for instantaneous sampling. Behavior Processes 38, 11–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garri, R.G. (2006) Comportamento de mergulho do boto cinza (Sotalia guianensis). MSc dissertation, Pós-graduaçao em Psicobiologia, UFRN, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.Google Scholar
Geise, L., Gomes, N. and Cerqueira, R. (1999) Behaviour, habitat use and population size of Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais, 1853) (Cetacea, Delphinidae) in the Cananeia estuary region, São Paulo, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Biologia 59, 183–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janson, C.H. (1990) Ecological consequences of individual spatial choice in foraging groups of brown capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella. Animal Behaviour 40, 922–934.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jauhiainen, L. and Korhonen, H.T. (2005) Optimal behaviour sampling and autocorrelation curve: modelling data of farmed foxes. Acta Ethologica 8, 13–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karczmarski, L. and Cockcroff, V.G. (1999) Daylight behaviour of humpback dolphins Sousa chinensis in Algoa Bay, South Africa. Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 64, 19–29.Google Scholar
Lodi, L. (2003) Tamanho e composição de grupo dos Botos-cinza, Sotalia guianensis (van Bénéden, 1864) (Cetacea, Delphinidae), na Baia de Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Atlântica 25, 135–146.Google Scholar
Lusseau, D. (2003a) The effects of tour boats on the behaviour of bottlenose dolphins: using Markov chains to model anthropogenic impacts. Conservation Biology 17, 1785–1793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lusseau, D. (2003b) Male and female bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.) have different strategies to avoid interactions with tour boats in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. Marine Ecology Progress Series 257, 267–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, J. (1999) Behavioural sampling methods for cetaceans: a review and critique. Marine Mammal Science 15, 102–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, J. (2000) Unravelling the dynamics of social life: long-term studies and observational methods. In Mann, J. et al. (eds) Cetacean societies: field studies of dolphins and whales. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press, pp. 45–64.Google Scholar
Monteiro, M.S., Souto, A. and Nascimento, L.F.D. (2006) Comparações entre os comportamentos de forrageio nas diferentes faixas etárias do Boto-cinza (Sotalia guianensis) (Cetacea; delphinidae) na Baia dos Golfinhos, Praia de Pipa, RN, Brasil. Revista de Etologia 8, 13–25.Google Scholar
Norris, K.S. and Dohl, T.P. (1980) The structure and functions of cetacean schools. In Herman, L.M. (ed.) Cetacean behaviour: mechanisms and functions. New York: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 211–261.Google Scholar
Queiroz, R.E.M. (2006) Estudos sobre orçamento de atividades do boto cinza (Sotalia guianensis) no litoral sul do Rio Grande do Norte. MSc dissertation, Pós-graduaçao em Psicobiologia, UFRN, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.Google Scholar
Setz, E.Z.F. (1991) Métodos de quantificação de comportamento de primatas em estudo de campo. In A Primatologia no Brasil – 3. Belo Horizonte. V.3. pp. 411–435.Google Scholar
Setz, E.Z.F. and Hoyos, A. (1985) Partição do tempo: o problema da dependência entre observações comportamentais sucessivas. In A Primatologia no Brasil – 2. pp. 6–7.Google Scholar
Shane, S.H. (1990) Behaviour and ecology of the bottlenose dolphins at Sanibel Island, Florida. In Leatherwood, S. and Reeves, R. (eds) The bottlenose dolphin. San Diego, USA: Academic Press, pp. 245–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tosi, C.H. (2007) Sincronismo comportamental em boto cinza (Sotalia guianensis). MSc dissertation, Pós-graduaçao em Psicobiologia, UFRN, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.Google Scholar
Valle, A.L. and Vaz, L.A.L. (2005) A relação entre o tempo de apneia, a idade e alguns comportamentos do golfinho Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais, 1953). Acta Biológica Paranaense, v. 34.Google Scholar
Wedekin, L.L., Daura-Jorge, F.G., Piacentini, V.Q. and Simões-Lopes, P.C. (2007) Seasonal variations in partial usage by the estuarine dolphins, Sotalia guianensis (Cetacea, Delphinidae) at its southern limit of distribution. Brazilian Journal of Biology 18, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Würsig, B. and Würsig, M. (1980) Behaviour and ecology of the dusky dolphin, Lagenorhynchus obscurus, in the South Atlantic. Fishery Bulletin, US 77, 871–890.Google Scholar