Dear colleagues, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce our new publication: Le Pendu Y., Lima A., Gomes E., Silva W., Cruz K.T.S., Giné, G.A.F. (2024) Response of Guiana dolphins to the construction of a bridge in Ilhe´us, Northeastern Brazil. PLoS ONE 19(11): e0312476. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312476
This study aimed to investigate whether the use of space and movements of Guiana dol- phins were altered during the construction of a cable-stayed bridge at the mouth of the Cachoeira River estuary in Ilhe´us, Brazil. We described and compared the visitation rate, use of space, and movements of the Guiana dolphins across two periods: before the con- struction began (2015–2016) and during the construction of the bridge (2017–2020). A the- odolite and a total station were used to observe and record the trajectories of the dolphins. From these trajectories, we estimated the Utilization Distribution (UD) using the biased ran- dom bridge kernel (BRBK) method, the area of use, and the core area, based on the 95% and 50% BRBK density, respectively. The dolphins did not change their visitation frequency to the estuary. No significant change in area fidelity was identified by comparing the overlap of areas used during two-month periods. No change occurred in the velocity and linearity of the trajectories of the dolphins swimming close to the bridge. However, contrary to expecta- tions, the results indicated an increase in the use of areas close to the bridge during its con- struction. This may have been caused by the change in the distribution of their prey in the estuary due to the emergence of a sandbank near the bridge. Bridge construction work seems not to have directly affected the Guiana dolphins’ use of the area, but the impact of the construction on the local topography has changed their areas of use and core areas of activity. A PDF copy of the publication can be downloaded from: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0312476 Best regards, Alice Lima -- Dr. Alice Lima Post-doc researcher from GPMAI Grupo de Pesquisa em Mamíferos Aquáticos de Ilhéus Programa de Pós-graduação em Sistemas Aquáticos Tropicais - PPGSAT Grupo de Pesquisa em Mamíferos Aquáticos de Ilhéus - GPMAI Ilhéus - Brazil
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