Territory Stories

Population Viability Analysis (PVA) for Three Species of Coastal Dolphin in Darwin Harbour : Report October 2020

Details:

Title

Population Viability Analysis (PVA) for Three Species of Coastal Dolphin in Darwin Harbour : Report October 2020,

Creator

von Takach, Brenton, Woolley, Leigh-Ann, Banks, Sam, Charles Darwin University, Research Institute for the Environment & Livelihoods,

Collection

E-Publications, E-Books, PublicationNT,

Date

2020-10,

Location

Darwin Harbour,

Description

Three dolphin species inhabit the coastal waters of the Darwin region: the Australian snubfin dolphin (Orcaella heinsohni), Australian humpback dolphin (Sousa sahulensis), and the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops sp.). Populations of all three species were monitored from 2011-2015 and 2016-2019 as part of the approvals process and voluntary offsets relating to the INPEX-operated Ichthys liquified natural gas project. A population viability analysis (PVA) was conducted for all three species with the aim of identifying knowledge gaps in our understanding of their life-history parameters and directing future information requirements to enable assessment of population trends. Population viability analysis is particularly useful when multi-decadal quantitative datasets are unavailable, and is thus a powerful tool in conservation management of long-lived species with low rates of reproduction. The primary objectives of this study were threefold: (1) build a base model for PVA of all three species of coastal dolphins, (2) utilise sensitivity testing to determine which vital rates are most responsible for driving changes in population growth rates, and (3) identify knowledge gaps in our understanding of local population dynamics and life-history parameters that can potentially be targeted in future research and/or monitoring programs.,

Notes

Made available by via Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT)., A report to Northern Territory Government, Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security, Flora and Fauna Division, Permission to copy is granted provided the source is acknowledged.,

Table of contents

Executive summary -- Introduction -- Methods -- Calculation of vital rates -- Model structure for population viability analysis -- Sensitivity analysis -- Results -- Parameter data and broad trends -- Population viability analyses -- Sensitivity analysis -- Discussion -- References,

Language

English,

Subject

Humpback dolphins (Sousa sahulensis), Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.), Snubfin dolphins (Orcaella heinsohni), Model of PVA, testing, populations,

Publisher name

Research Institute for the Environment & Livelihoods,

Place of publication

Casuarina,

Format

38 pages : colour illustrations ; 30 cm,

File type

application/pdf,

ISBN

9781743502679,

Use

Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0),

Copyright owner

Northern Territory Government||Research Institute for the Environment & Livelihoods,

License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/,

Parent handle

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/809777,

Citation address

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/809778