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Environmental models for predicting habitat of the Indo‐Pacific humpback dolphins in Fujian, China
Author(s) -
Chen Bingyao,
Hong Zhe,
Hao Xiuqing,
Gao Huili
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
aquatic conservation: marine and freshwater ecosystems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1099-0755
pISSN - 1052-7613
DOI - 10.1002/aqc.3279
Subject(s) - habitat , bathymetry , indo pacific , fishery , geography , china , distribution (mathematics) , ecology , environmental science , biology , cartography , mathematical analysis , mathematics , archaeology
Abstract The coast of Fujian Province is a key area for the Indo‐Pacific humpback dolphin ( Sousa chinensis ), but the characteristics of their preferred habitats are poorly defined. The species distribution model, MaxEnt, was used to predict suitable habitat distributions of humpback dolphins in Fujian, China. The model indicated that the distance to the coastline (63.5% contribution), chlorophyll‐a levels (20.2%) and the bathymetry (15.6%) were important predictors of humpback dolphin habitats. The model predicted 2,043.96 km 2 of highly suitable habitat that was concentrated in five areas. Four are known to be within the area of the current distribution of humpback dolphins; Putian was identified as a new area with suitable habitat, however, it is unclear if dolphins are present. The predicted locations of suitable humpback dolphin habitats provided in this study should be the focus of future research and nature reserve designs.