Description
The pack contains three workflows, 13 files and 2 documentations (tutorials to run the workflows).
Workflows:
1)
Demography of the killer whales.
2)
Resident killer whale-chinook salmon interactions.
3)
Exploration of fishing scenarios.
These workflow uses input data of two different populations of Orcas in the northeastern Pacific Ocean of Canada and the U.S. But these workflows can also use input data from other populations of the Orcas in the world (see requirements for data entry in the documentation).
Two distinct populations of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the northeastern Pacific Ocean have been identified in Canada and the U.S. as being of conservation concern. The Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) population is currently listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act on the grounds of its small population size and vulnerability to demographic stochasticity and catastrophic events such as oil spills (NMFS 2008). In Canada, under the Species At Risk Act (COSEWIC 2008), SRKW is listed as endangered due to its small and declining population size while the Northern Resident Killer Whale (NRKW) population is listed as threatened due to its small population size. The major threats identified for these two populations are nutritional stress associated with prey abundance levels and availability, particularly Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) (COSEWIC 2008, Ford et al. 2010a, 2010b), pollution and contaminants, and disturbances from vessels and sound (COSEWIC 2008, NMFS 2008). An important difference in the population-size trajectories of these two populations is that, in spite of their home range overlap and potential access to similar resources, SRKW has remained at a population size of less than 100 individuals for the last four decades with an average of 85 individuals in the last decade. NRKW population size has been generally increasing for the last four decades with 268 individuals at the end of 2011.
Vélez-Espino, L.A., John K.B. Ford, Eric Ward, Chuck K. Parken, Larrie LaVoy, Ken Balcomb, M. Bradley Hanson, Dawn. P. Noren, Graeme Ellis, Tom Cooney, and Rishi Sharma. 2013. Sensitivity of resident Killer Whale population dynamics to Chinook salmon abundance. Completion Report, Pacific Salmon Commission, Southern Boundary Restoration and Enhancement Fund, Vancouver BC. 191 p.
Vélez-Espino, L.A., Ford, J.K.B., Araujo, H.A., Ellis, G., Parken, C.K, & Balcomb, K. 2014. Comparative demography and viability of northeast Pacific resident killer whale populations at risk. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 3084: vi + 56 p.
Vélez-Espino, L.A., John K.B. Ford, H. Andres Araujo, Graeme Ellis, Charles K. Parken and Rishi Sharma. 2014. Relative importance of Chinook salmon abundance on resident killer whale population growth and viability. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. Article first published online: 21 AUG 2014. DOI: 10.1002/aqc.2494.
The workflows can be run as well in:
https://portal.biovel.eu/