The demographic decline of a sea lion population followed multi-decadal sea surface warming

The population growth of top predators depends largely on environmental conditions suitable for aggregating sufficient and high-quality prey. We reconstructed numerically the size of a resident population of California sea lions in the Gulf of California during 1978–2019 and its relation with multi-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2020-06, Vol.10 (1), p.10499-10499, Article 10499
Main Authors: Adame, Karen, Elorriaga-Verplancken, Fernando R., Beier, Emilio, Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina, Pardo, Mario A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/1144
631/158/1745
631/158/2165
631/158/2446/2448
631/158/851
704/158/2165
704/829/826
Animal populations
Animals
Aquatic mammals
Ecosystem
Environmental conditions
Humanities and Social Sciences
multidisciplinary
Oceans and Seas
Population
Population decline
Population Dynamics
Population growth
Predators
Prey
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sea lions
Sea Lions - growth & development
Sea surface temperature
Temperature
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Summary:The population growth of top predators depends largely on environmental conditions suitable for aggregating sufficient and high-quality prey. We reconstructed numerically the size of a resident population of California sea lions in the Gulf of California during 1978–2019 and its relation with multi-decadal sea surface temperature anomalies. This is the first multi-decadal examination of the sea surface temperature of the Gulf of California and of one of its major predators. A three-decade sustained warming explained the population’s trend accounting for 92% of the variance, including a 65% decline between 1991 and 2019. Long-term warming conditions started in the late 80s, followed by the population’s decline from 43,834 animals (range 34,080–58,274) in 1991 to only 15,291 (range 11,861–20,316) in 2019. The models suggested a century-scale optimum sea surface habitat occurring in mildly temperate waters, from 0.18 to 0.39 °C above the 100-year mean. The mechanistic links of this relation are still untested, but apparent diversification of pelagic fish catches suggests a reduction of high quality prey. We propose this population should be considered vulnerable to any disturbance that could add to the negative effects of the current warm sea surface conditions in the Gulf of California.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-67534-0