Diet of Bottlenose Dolphins Tursiops truncatus in the Northwest Panhandle and Foraging Behavior Near Savannah, Georgia

The foraging ecology of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in the Northwest Florida Panhandle and estuaries in northern Georgia was determined using diet analysis and behavioral surveys. Stomach content analysis was completed on bottlenose dolphins(N = 25) that stranded in the Northwest Florida Panhandle from November 2006 to March 2009. The most abundant prey species were spot Leiostomus xanthurus (20.4%), squid (10.9%), pinfish Lagodon rhombiodes (10.3%), and Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus (8.5%). Dolphins that stranded during months with a red tide Karenia brevis bloom consumed more pinfish, and spot; whereas dolphins that stranded in non-bloom months consumed more squid, Atlantic croaker, and silver perch Bairdiella chrysoura. Differences in diet were also identified for dolphins that stranded inside bays/sound and dolphin that stranded outside of bays along the coast, and male and female dolphins. Surveys were conducted from south of the Savannah River to north of Ossabaw Sound in Georgia where foraging behaviors were classified. Multivariate Generalized Additive Models were used to test correlations of behaviors to dolphin group size, depth, salinity, temperature, creek width, and tide. Sightings with headstands (p = 0.009), hard stops (p = 0.019), chasing (p = 0.004), mudbank whacking (p < 0.001), herding/circling (p = 0.024), and strand feeding (p = 0.006) were correlated with shallow water or small creeks. Sightings with kerplunking (p = 0.031), mudbank whacking (p = 0.001), strand feeding (p = 0.003), and herding/circling (p = 0.026) were significantly correlated with low tide. The results of the Savannah, Georgia study were the first to characterize foraging behaviors in this area and demonstrate how bottlenose dolphins utilize the salt marsh estuary in terms of foraging. Studies like these are important to determine how dolphins forage efficiently and to provide background information on diet and foraging behavior for use in monitoring future impacts to dolphins in the Northwest Florida Panhandle and near Savannah, Georgia.

Strengthening impact evaluation in natural resource management

The workshop on Strengthening Evaluation in Natural Resource Management Research is part of an ACIAR-funded Small Research and Development Activity (SRA) on Assessing the Impacts of Natural Resource Management and Policy Research in Development Programs, with WorldFish and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) as partners. The SRA objectives included a review of literature to identify challenges in assessing the impact of NRMR programs and to propose a framework that addresses them. An exploratory workshop was held in February 2012 to initiate collective action within the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) to identify and address their impact challenges and led to the creation of the NRMR impact community of practice (COP). This follow-up workshop brought together members of the COP and partners in the SRA to discuss and reach agreement on how to progress on our collective goals of building new and appropriate approaches for NRMR IE and how to put these approaches into action through our research programs. This report is a documentation of the workshop process and outputs.

Peces y aves del Paraguay natural ilustrado 1967. Manuscrito preparado bajo la dirección de Mariano N. Castex, 511 pp.

Este documento reproduce parte de la magnífica e importante obra del P. Francisco José Sánchez Labrador realizada durante su estadía en América desde su arribo en 1734 hasta la expulsión de la orden en 1767. Esta versión digital corresponde al libro editado por la Compañía General Fabril Editora S. A. en 1968 y cuyo manuscrito fuera preparado bajo la dirección del Dr. Mariano N. Castex (imagen).