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Cover Picture and Issue Information
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
methods in ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.425
H-Index - 105
ISSN - 2041-210X
DOI - 10.1111/2041-210x.12477
Subject(s) - cover (algebra) , fishing , citation , geography , apex predator , order (exchange) , fishery , computer science , data science , world wide web , information retrieval , ecology , biology , engineering , predation , mechanical engineering , finance , economics
This month’s cover image shows a flapper skate ( Dipturus intermedia ) caught by anglers of the Scottish Sea Anglers Conservation Network (SSACN) in the Sound of Jura off the west coast of Scotland. During the study for the related article a total of 17 individuals where tagged with data storage tags (DSTs) between 2011 and 2012 in order to better understand their behaviour and define conservation measures for this endangered marine apex predator. In total only four individuals were recaptured in 2012 – one mature female and three males – and their depth profiles showed high individual variability. All individuals were rod‐caught thanks to the expertise of SSACN’s members who target flapper skate in a catch and release fishing programme. The analysis of individual behaviour is quickly developing thanks to computational advances and the development of electronic tags that are able to collect high quantities of high frequency data. Such data are necessary to obtain useful information on the detailed behaviour of individuals. These data help us to understand the processes that relate animals to their environment. Therefore it is essential to develop methods which can deal with the issues that these data intrinsically carry – such as long memory, non‐normality, non‐stationarity and nonlinearity. Photo credit: © Ian Burrett/SSACN