Variation in the distribution of the Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) on the southern coast of Puerto Rico through helicopter aerial surveys

Authors

  • Antonio A. Mignucci-Giannoni Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico - Recinto de Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  • Chabeli Iglesias-Escabí Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico - Recinto de Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  • Raúl J. Rosario-Delestre Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico - Recinto de Bayamón, Puerto Rico
  • Mayela Alsina-Guerrero Georgia Aquarium, United States

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15359/revmar10-1.6

Keywords:

Aerial survey, helicopter, Puerto Rico, Trichechus manatus, zoogeography.

Abstract

The Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) is endangered due to anthropogenic activities, which affect both the manatee’s health and use of habitats required for their survival. The spatial distribution and use of the manatee habitat on the southern coast of Puerto Rico was obtained using helicopter aerial surveys and was related to zoogeographic, environmental and oceanographic factors. A total of 33 surveys were conducted along the southern coast from 2001 to 2015. There was a total of 488 sightings and 914 individuals, which represents 13 manatees per hour of effort, 12.4% being calves. No correlation was found between their presence and seasons, sea surface temperature, or currents. The use of freshwater and seagrass bed resources did not present a statistical relationship, but it is clear that they are part of their nature and necessary for their survival. However, the depth and degree of protection offered by the bays is decisive to predict the presence of manatees. A marked increase in the number of manatees per hour of effort between 2007 and 2015 represents a possible population growth. Given that the survival of manatees in Puerto Rico is threatened by different natural and anthropogenic factors, this study, together with studies on telemetry and habitat use, should help designate future protected areas critical for their survival.

Author Biographies

Antonio A. Mignucci-Giannoni, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico - Recinto de Bayamón

Centro de Conservación de Manatíes de Puerto Rico

Chabeli Iglesias-Escabí, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico - Recinto de Bayamón

Centro de Conservación de Manatíes de Puerto Rico

Raúl J. Rosario-Delestre, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico - Recinto de Bayamón

Centro de Conservación de Manatíes de Puerto Rico

Mayela Alsina-Guerrero, Georgia Aquarium

Centro de Conservación de Manatíes de Puerto Rico

References

Altmann, J. (1974). Observational study of behavior: Sampling methods. Behaviour, 49(3-4), 227-267. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853974X00534.

Bengtson, J. L. & Magor, D. (1979). A survey of manatees in Belize. J. Mammal, 60(1), 230-232. https://doi.org/10.2307/1379785.

Bonde, R. K., Mignucci-Giannoni, A. A. & Bossart, G. D. (2012). Sirenian pathology and mortality assessment. En E. Hines, J. Reynolds, L. Aragones, A. A. Mignucci Giannoni & M. Marmontel (Eds.), Sirenian Conservation: Issues and strategies in developing countries (pp. 148-156). Florida, EE.UU.: University Press of Florida.

Deutsch, C. J., Bonde, R. K. & Reid, J. P. (1998). Radio-tracking manatees from land and space: Tag design, implementation, and lessons learned from long-term study. Mar. Technol. Soc. J., 32(1), 18-29.

Deutsch, C. J., Self-Sullivan, C. & Mignucci-Giannoni, A. (2008). Trichechus manatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T22103A9356917. Recuperado en 1 de febrero de 2018, disponible en http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T22103A9356917.en.

Domning, D. P. & Hayek, L. C. (1986). Interspecific and intraspecific morphological variation in manatees (Sirenia: Trichechus). Mar. Mamm. Sci., 2, 87-144. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1986.tb00034.x.

Drew, C. A., Alexander-Vaughn, L. B. & Collazo, J. A. (2012). Science summary in support of manatee protection area (MPA) design in Puerto Rico. North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, North Carolina State University, Tech. Bull., 330, 1-63. https://dx.doi.org/10.3996/CSS.101.2013.

Duarte, C. M., Marba, N. & Santos, R. (2004). What may cause loss of seagrasses? En J. Borum, C. M. Duarte, D. Krause-Jensen & T. M. Greve (Eds.), European seagrasses: An introduction to monitoring and management. (pp. 24-32). Hillerød, Denmark: M&MS Project.

Freeman, J. & Quintero, H. (1990). The distribution of West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus) in Puerto Rico: 1988-1989. Nat. Tech. Info. Serv., PB91-137240, 1-43.

Giusti, E. V. (1978). Hydrogeology of the karst of Puerto Rico. U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1012, 1-68.

Google Earth. (2016). Google Earth®, Versión 7. Boston, EE.UU.: Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Hunter, M. E., Mignucci-Giannoni, A. A., Pause Tucker, K., King, T. L., Bonde, R. K., Gray, B. A. & McGuire, P. M. (2012). Puerto Rico and Florida manatees represent genetically distinct groups. Conserv. Genet., 13, 1623-1635. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-012-0414-2.

Irvine, A. B. & Campbell, H. W. (1978). Aerial census of the West Indian manatee, Trichechus manatus, in the Southeastern United States. J. Mammal., 59, 613-617. https://doi.org/10.2307/1380237.

Kendall, M. S., Monaco, M. E., Buja, K. R., Christensen, J. D., Kruer, C. R., Finkbeiner, M. & Warner, R. A. (2001). Methods used to map the benthic habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Maryland, EE.UU.: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service.

Lefebvre, L. W. (1995). Manatee aerial survey safety rules. SireNews, 24, 2-3.

Lefebvre, L. W. & Kochman, H. I. (1991). An evaluation of aerial survey replicate count methodology to determine trends in manatee abundance. Wildl. Soc. Bull., 19, 298-309.

Lefebvre, L. W., Ackerman, B. B., Portier, K. M. & Pollok, K. (1995). Aerial Survey as a technique for estimating trends in manatee population size–problems and prospects. En T. J. O’Shea, B. B. Ackerman & H. R. Percival (Eds.), Population biology of the Florida manatee (pp. 63-74). Washington DC, EE.UU.: National Biological Service.

Lefebvre, L. W., Reid, J. P., Kenworthy, J. & Powell, J. A. (2000). Characterizing manatee hábitat use and seagrass grazing in Florida and Puerto Rico: Implications for conservation and management. Pac. Conserv. Biol., 5, 289-298. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC000289.

López-Marrero, T. & Villanueva-Colón, N. (2006). Atlas ambiental de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico: La Editorial, Universidad de Puerto Rico.

Magor, D. (1979). Surey of the Caribbean manatee, Trichechus manatus L. on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. Ceiba, Puerto Rico: Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Department of the Navy.

Microsoft Excel. (2011). Microsoft Excel®, Versión 14.7.3. Boston, EE.UU.: Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Mignucci-Giannoni, A. A. (1989). Zoogeography of marine mammals in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Tésis de maestría no publicada, University of Rhode Island, Kingston.

Mignucci-Giannoni, A. A. & Beck, C. A. (1998). The diet of the manatee (Trichechus manatus) in Puerto Rico. Mar. Mamm. Sci., 14(2), 394-397. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1998.tb00733.x

Mignucci-Giannoni, A. A., Montoya-Ospina, R. A., Jiménez-Marrero, N. M., Rodríguez-López, M. A., Williams, E. H. & Bonde, R. K. (2000). Manatee mortality in Puerto Rico. Environ. Manage., 25(2), 189-198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002679910015.

Mignucci, A. (2010). El manatí de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Red Caribeña de Varamientos & Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico.

Miller, K. E., Ackerman, B. B., Lefebvre, L. W. & Clifton, K. B. (1998). An evaluation of strip-transect aerial survey methods for monitoring manatee populations in Florida. Wildl. Soc. Bull., 26, 561-570.

Morales-Vela, B., Olivera-Gómez, L. D., Reynolds, J. E. & Rathbun, G. B. (2000). Distribution and habitat use by manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) in Belize and Chetumal Bay, Mexico. Biol. Conserv., 95(1), 67-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(00)00009-4.

Mou Sue, L. L., Chen, D. H., Bonde, R. K. & O'Shea T. J. (1990). Distribution and status of manatees (Trichechus manatus) in Panama. Mar. Mamm. Sci., 6, 234-241. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1990.tb00247.x.

O’Shea, T. J. & Salisbury, C. A. (1991). Belize-A last stronghold for manatees in the Caribbean. Oryx, 25, 156-164.

Olivera-Gómez, L. D. & Mellink, E. (2002). Spatial and temporal variation in counts of the Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) during distribution surveys at bahía de Chetumal, Mexico. Aquat. Mamm., 28, 285-293.

Ortíz, R. M., Worthy, G. A. J. & MacKenzie, D. S. (1998). Osmoregulation in wild and captive West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus). Physiol. Biochem. Zool., 71(4), 449-457. https://doi.org/10.1086/515427.

Packard, J. M. (1985). Development of manatee aerial survey techniques. Florida, EE.UU.: Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Florida.

Packard, J. M. & Mulholland, R. (1983). Analysis of manatee aerial surveys: a compilation and preliminary analysis of winter aerial surveys conducted in Florida between 1977 and 1982. Florida, EE.UU.: Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Florida.

Packard, J. M., Siniff, D. B. & Cornell, J. A. (1986). Use of replicate counts to improve indices of trends in manatee abundance. Wildl. Soc. Bull., 14, 265-275.

Packard, J. M., Summers, R. C. & Barnes, L. B. (1985). Variation of visibility bias during aerial surveys of manatees. J. Wildl. Manage., 49, 347-351. https://doi.org/10.2307/3801528.

Powell, J. A. & Rathbun, G. B. (1984). Distribution and abundance of manatees along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Northeast Gulf Sci., 7, 1-28.

Powell, J. A., Belitsky, D. W. & Rathbun, G. B. (1981). Status of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) in Puerto Rico. J. Mammal., 62(3), 642-646. https://doi.org/10.2307/1380417.

Provancha, J. A. & Provancha, M. J. (1988). Long-term trends in abundance and distribution of manatees (Trichechus manatus) in the northern Banana Rivera, Brevard County, Florida. Mar. Mamm. Sci., 4, 323-338. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1988.tb00541.x

Rathbun, G. B. (1988). Fixed-wing airplane versus helicopter surveys of manatees (Trichechus manatus). Mar. Mamm. Sci., 4, 71-75. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1988.tb00185.x.

Rathbun, G. B. & Possardt, E. L. (1986). Recovery plan for the Puerto Rico population of the West Indian (Antillean) manatee (Trichechus manatus Linnaeus, 1758). Georgia, EE.UU.: US Fish Wildlife Service.

Rathbun, G. B., Carr, T., Carr, N. & Woods, C. A. (1985). The distribution of manatees and sea turtles in Puerto Rico, with emphasis on Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. Nat. Tech. Info. Serv., PB86-151834/GAR, 1-83.

Rathbun, G. B., Powell, J. A. & Cruz, G. (1983). Status of the West Indian manatee in Honduras. Biol. Conserv., 26(4), 301-308. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(83)90094-0.

Reep, R. L., Bonde, R. K. (2010). The Florida manatee: Biology and conservation. Florida, EE.UU.: University of Florida Press.

Reid, J. P. & Bonde, R. K. (1993, noviembre). Can Puerto Rican manatees be tracked from space? The first satellite- based telemetry of Trichechus manatus outside the continental United States. En Abstract 10th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Galveston, Texas.

Reid, J. P., Bonde, R. K., Easton, D. E. & Kochman, H. I. (1994a). 1993 annual report on the radio telemetry of manatees in Puerto Rico. Washington DC, EE.UU.: National Biological Service.

Reid, J. P., Bonde, R. K., Easton, D. E. & Kochman, H. I. (1994b, marzo). Considerations for conducting manatee telemetry studies outside of Florida: A Puerto Rico case study. En Abstracts First International Manatee and Dugong Research Conference, Gainesville, Florida.

Reid, J. P., Easton, D. & Kenworthy, W. J. (2001). Manatee and seagrass habitat characterization in Puerto Rico. Florida, EE.UU.: Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Department of the Navy.

Reid, J., Jiménez, N., Butler, S., Montalvo, J., Slone, D., Saliva, J. & Stith, B. (2007, noviembre). Use of Argos- linked GPS tags to document specific habitat use patterns of manatees in eastern Puerto Rico. En Abstracts 16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Cape Town, South Africa.

Reynolds, J. E., Morales-Vela, B., Lawler, I. & Edwards, H. (2012). Utility and design of aerial surveys for sirenians. En E. Hines, J. Reynolds, L. Aragones, A. A. Mignucci Giannoni & M. Marmontel (Eds.), Sirenian Conservation: Issues and strategies in developing countries (pp. 186-195). Florida, EE.UU.: University Press of Florida.

Rstudio. (2016). Rstudio®. Versión 0.99.903. Boston, EE.UU.: RStudio Inc.

Self-Sullivan, C. & Mignucci-Giannoni, A. A. (2008). Trichechus manatus ssp. manatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T22105A9359161. Recuperado en 1 de febrero de 2018, disponible en https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T22105A9359161.en.

Self-Sullivan, C. & Mignucci-Giannoni, A. A. (2012). West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus) in the Wider Caribbean Region. En E. Hines, J. Reynolds, L. Aragones, A. A. Mignucci Giannoni & M. Marmontel (Eds.), Sirenian Conservation: Issues and strategies in developing countries (pp. 36-46). Florida, EE.UU.: University Press of Florida.

Slone, D. H., Reid, J. P., Bonde, R. K., Butler, S. M. & Stith, B. M. (2006). Summary of West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) tracking by USGS-FISC Sirenia Project in Puerto Rico: With additional information on aerial surveys, carcass recovery and genetics research. Florida, EE.UU.: US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Published

2018-05-03

How to Cite

Mignucci-Giannoni, A. A., Iglesias-Escabí, C., Rosario-Delestre, R. J., & Alsina-Guerrero, M. (2018). Variation in the distribution of the Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) on the southern coast of Puerto Rico through helicopter aerial surveys. Journal of Marine and Coastal Sciences, 10(1), 97-121. https://doi.org/10.15359/revmar10-1.6

Issue

Section

Scientific articles

How to Cite

Mignucci-Giannoni, A. A., Iglesias-Escabí, C., Rosario-Delestre, R. J., & Alsina-Guerrero, M. (2018). Variation in the distribution of the Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) on the southern coast of Puerto Rico through helicopter aerial surveys. Journal of Marine and Coastal Sciences, 10(1), 97-121. https://doi.org/10.15359/revmar10-1.6

Comentarios (ver términos de uso)

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 > >>